“Prosecutors allege that Michael Rohana, 24, of Bear, Del., sneaked into the Franklin Institute’s ‘Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor’ special exhibit in December and snapped the thumb off one of the priceless statues inside. With the filched finger shoved in his pocket, he left … the museum that night and kept the clay digit in a desk drawer in his bedroom for more than three weeks.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Hirshhorn Museum Cancels Monumental Outdoor Projection Following Florida School Shooting
“[Krzysztof Wodiczko’s] site-specific work, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC, 1988-2000, was restaged for the first time in 30 years on Tuesday and was meant to remain on display for three days … The three-story-tall piece … shows two hands holding a gun and a candle on either side of a row of microphones.”
Winnipeg Symphony Names Music Director
Daniel Raiskin, an Amsterdam-based coductor who was until recently music director of orchestras in Koblenz, Germany and Łódź, Poland, takes over the podium next season from the departing Alexander Mickelthwate.
Comedian Marty Allen, Of ’60s Duo Allen And Rossi, Dead At 95
“[He] was a short, pudgy comedian who found his greatest success from 1957 to 1968, when he teamed with [Steve] Rossi, a tall, handsome singer who set up his partner’s vaudeville-style, groan-worthy gags. … With the bulging eyes and innocence of a Harpo Marx-like fool, Mr. Allen ambled onstage with his trademark catchphrase, ‘Hello dere,’ and quickly waded into comic quicksand.”
Ruth Ann Koesun, ABT Principal Dancer Of 1950s And ’60s, Dead At 89
“[She] epitomized the company’s early eclectic profile by excelling in roles that ranged from Billy the Kid’s Mexican sweetheart to the ‘Bluebird’ pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty … Because of her lyrical style in ballets like Les Sylphides, Ms. Koesun was often cast as a Romantic ballerina. But she could also show dramatic ferocity, as the evil antiheroine Ate in Antony Tudor’s Undertow.”
Polar Music Prize 2018 Goes To Afghanistan’s National Institute Of Music
“Dr. [Ahmad] Sarmast founded ANIM in Kabul in 2010 in response to that country’s civil war destruction of centuries of rich musical tradition. In the 1980s the pop music and film industries were thriving in Afghanistan, with hundreds of ensembles and a national radio orchestra playing Western and Afghan musical instruments. Between 1996 and 2001, music was completely banned. Over the last eight years, ANIM has been providing a challenging and safe learning environment for all students regardless of gender, ethnicity, religious sect or socio-economic status. The institute has a special focus on the most disadvantaged children in Afghanistan, including orphans, street vendors and girls.” the other winner of this year’s $125,000 prize is the band Metallica.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.14.18
Thornhill’s “Robbins’ Nest,” A Rediscovery
Continuing to roam through Jeff Sultanof’s new book on big band jazz I am appreciating, almost as if for the first time, pieces of music that I’ve listened to for years. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-02-14
Have A Look At Three Centuries’ Worth Of Valentines
Eve M. Kahn brings us some examples from the collection of some 12,000 paper valentines, dating as far back as the late 17th century, assembled by historian Nancy Rosin and recently donated to the Huntington Library in Los Angeles.
As Performance Space New York (Re-)Opens, Old Denizens Mourn Its Old Identity, PS122
“Some criticized the change as an erasure of the organization’s history. Others took issue with the choice of a generic-sounding name over one reflecting the origins of PS122, which was founded in 1980 when a group of artists took over an abandoned public school.” (One waggish critic tweeted, “In honor of PS122’s decision to rebrand as Performance Space New York, I am considering changing my name to Personal Name.”) “The initial outcry has subsided, but … questions linger about the new identity. To what extent does a name matter? What happens to the history it holds? “
Salon Will Let You Read Ad-Free If You Help It Mine Cryptocurrency
“On Sunday, the site began presenting visitors using ad blockers with the option to ‘Suppress Ads’ in exchange for ‘allowing Salon to use your unused computing power.’ … Through the use of a Monero mining plugin called Coinhive, the online magazine is essentially cobbling together the spare processing power from a bunch of readers’ computers to create a virtual server farm that can mine cryptocurrencies.”