The 64-year-old conductor will step down from the music directorship of the Norfolk-based orchestra at the end of its centennial season, 2019-20. (She is evidently staying on with her other orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, where her current contract expires in 2021.)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Subject Of Bestseller ‘The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ Sues Publisher For Defamation
“The book, which was believed to have been written by [Alex] Malarkey with his father, Kevin, was pulled from print in 2015 after Malarkey, still a minor, recanted his story. Today, at 20-years-old, Malarkey alleges that his father was the sole author of the book, and he is suing Tyndale [House Publishers] for defamation, deceptive trade practices, and five other charges.”
Free Tickets If You Wear A Swastika, Says German Theater (Outrage Ensues)
“A play based on Adolf Hitler’s youth is sparking controversy for an unusual opening-night deal: Audience members willing to wear a swastika (provided by the theater) during the performance get in free. Those who prefer to pay full price are asked to wear the Star of David. … Producers of the play at the theater in Konstanz, a picturesque city in the south of Germany, say the action is part of an attempt to reinvigorate the national conversation about the dangers of fascism.”
Two Bolshoi Ballet Stars Denied Visas To Dance In US
Olga Smirnova, one of the Bolshoi’s biggest stars, and Jacopo Tissi, a La Scala Ballet alumnus who joined the Moscow company in 2016, were refused nonimmigrant worker visas to dance at a Youth America Grand Prix gala at Lincoln Center this week.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.18.18
The Future of Orchestras – Part Five: Kurt Weill, El Paso, and the National Mood
“Wherever I found decency and humanity in the world, it reminded me of America.” Kurt Weill wrote those words after returning from a visit to Germany in 1947. I read them aloud at least a dozen times during the Kurt Weill festival in El Paso last week. Every time I invited my listeners to consider whether or not they still apply. … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2018-04-18
La Salle Sales Shortfall: Two of Five 19th-Century Offerings Fail to Sell
Today’s auction at Christie’s of the first five of 46 deaccessions from the La Salle University Art Museum got off to an inauspicious start … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-04-18
Propwatch: the plastic bags in Macbeth
Rufus Norris’s bereft, survivalist production of Macbeth was the show that launched a thousand thinkpieces about his regime at the National Theatre. The reviews were overwhelmingly hostile, and this apparently misfired Shakespeare followed on … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2018-04-18
Winner Of This Year’s Pulitzer For Fiction Tells You About All The Novels He Almost Wrote
Andrew Sean Greer: “I think every novelist has a list of novels they never wrote – and never plan to write. Some are impossible dreams. Some are good ideas over a bad bottle of wine. And some are, let’s admit it, just bad ideas. Really bad ideas. So for what it’s worth, a little advice …”
These Monks Meditate By Dancing
“In the West, our idea of monastic ritual involves prayer and quiet reflection. But there are monasteries in Assam, in the far reaches of northeastern India, where prayer has always been, and continues to be, expressed through dance. The monks in these communities, or sattras, perform with and for each other, and for the deity. Sattriya, as this dance form is known, became one of the eight official classical dance forms of India only in 2000 – since then, its visibility has grown beyond the monastery walls.”
How One Joke On ‘Roseanne’ Explains The Entire Show
Emily Nussbaum: “It would feel good to critique the new version [of the show] with a tolerant smile – to say simply that you shouldn’t judge any sitcom too harshly, early on. … I can’t write that review, though, and it’s because of zingers like the one above, dog whistles that won’t let you stay inside Roseanne.”
A Great Play About (Of All Issues) Urban Renewal – August Wilson’s ‘Two Trains Running’
“The narrow lens is one of the play’s surprises: It examines the titanic forces of urban renewal via a single establishment, never leaving the checkerboard-tiled stage of [Memphis Lee’s] diner. For a play about sweeping change, what emerges is a slow portrait, one that tries to convince you that everything depends on the fate of this single black-owned soul-food cafe in Pittsburgh. … Another surprise in Two Trains Running is how far the play’s fears still echo today, some 50 years after the events depicted (and nearly 30 years since its debut).”
How Did Kendrick Lamar Win The Music Pulitzer? Let The Pulitzer Prize Administrator Tell You
Dana Canedy: “In this case [the jurors] were considering a piece of music they felt had hip-hop influences and said, ‘Well if we’re considering a piece of music that has hip-hop influences, why aren’t we considering hip-hop?’ And someone said, ‘That’s exactly what we should do.’ And then someone said, ‘We should be considering Kendrick Lamar’ and the group said ‘absolutely.’ So then, right then, they decided to listen to the entire album and decided ‘This is it.'”