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Want To Make Orchestral Auditions More Inclusive And Less Discriminatory? This Is How

Writing in the house magazine of Local 802 (the New York City chapter) of the American Federation of Musicians, Shea Scruggs and Weston Sprott both suggest ways to change the mindset around orchestral auditions and offer specific steps to take, such as keeping screens for all audition rounds (including chamber music and ensemble) and eliminating trial weeks. – Allegro (AFM Local 802)

The Next Big Thing: Getting Rid Of Experts In Favor Of Generalists Who Can Do It All (Huge Implications)

“Minimal manning—and the evolution of the economy more generally—requires a different kind of worker, with not only different acquired skills but different inherent abilities. It has implications for the nature and utility of a college education, for the path of careers, for inequality and employability—even for the generational divide.” – The Atlantic

‘125th And Freedom’: A Marathon Dance Piece Stretching Across Harlem’s Main Thoroughfare

“Stopping at sites including the Harriet Tubman Memorial and the former Lenox Lounge — now a Wells Fargo — the 16-part ritual tells the story of a tribe fighting for its freedom with the help of Libra, a time-traveling descendant of Tubman who flies in from the future. As it progresses, the work grows more interactive; at Amsterdam Avenue, for instance, audience members write their hopes on slips of fabric and attach them to a sprawling ‘dream net.'” – The New York Times

‘The Central Park Five’ — Composer Anthony Davis On Writing An Opera With A Quintet In The Title Role

“I had never done an opera with five protagonists before. I had to figure out how to do that. I was fascinated by group singing. Then I began thinking about that period in time, Take 6 and a lot of the boy groups that were popular in that time. I started looking at what I could do with close harmony for five voices.” – The Washington Post

With Everything In The Film Business Changing, Will There Even Be Movies As We Know Them In Ten Years?

“24 major Hollywood figures peer into the future, including: Ava DuVernay (on audiences), Jason Blum (on producing), Octavia Spencer (on acting), Kumail Nanjiani (on comedy), Lena Waithe (on black filmmakers), J.J. Abrams (on blockbusters), Jon M. Chu (on diversity), Jessica Chastain (on dramas), Elizabeth Banks (on female filmmakers), Barry Jenkins (on the Oscars) and Joe and Anthony Russo (on two-hour narratives).” – The New York Times

Casting Movie Stars Or ‘Celebrities’ In Broadway Shows Doesn’t Improve Box Office, Says Study — But Is The Study Accurate?

The researchers found, based on comparing figures for the original star of a production and the first replacement, that casting a theatre star helps ticket sales but casting a movie star or “celebrity” makes no difference. Howard Sherman, noting that this is “contrary to conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence,” points out the study’s big flaw: who was put in which category. – The Stage

In The Visual Arts, Having A Master’s Degree Will Not Make A Big Difference In Your Salary: Study

“According to the first POWarts Salary Survey, a report on wages and various sectors of the art industry conducted by the Professional Organization for Women in the Arts, … the median salary for respondents with a bachelor’s degree was $60,000. By contrast, the median for respondents with a master’s degree was $62,000 — just $2,000 more. (The median for respondents with a doctorate degree was $73,500.)” – ARTnews

Meet One Of The Curators Who Started That Spreadsheet Of Art Museum Salaries

“I’m a design curator, so sometimes the most simple, economical, and elegant way to do something is the most effective,” says Michelle Millar Fisher of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, who sees the crowdsourced spreadsheet as a way to fight “the culture of silence and fear” in the museum world. “[You can] literally see collegiality and solidarity appearing cell by cell in the sheet.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer