“Louisville, Kentucky has gotten used to the fact that the maestro rides his bike to concerts. No limo, no tux for him. At 32, Teddy Abrams is the youngest conductor of a major orchestra in the United States, and in Louisville (if it’s possible for a classical musician) he’s a rock star.” (video and text) – CBS
Blog
Desperate Front-Line Staff At Louvre Declare One-Day Strike
“The Sud Culture Solidaires trade union said in a statement that the Louvre was ‘suffocating’ and staff were being overwhelmed by the number of visitors. … ‘More than 10 million people visited the Louvre in 2018. Although visitor numbers have grown by more than 20 percent since 2009 … staff numbers are falling.'” – Yahoo! (AFP)
Louvre Will Offer Off-Hours Tours At €30 A Head
The stated idea behind the tours is to attract Parisians who avoid the museum because of the massive crowds of tourists. If that’s the case, though, why are the tours being offered through Airbnb? – Hyperallergic
Digging Our Roots videos, speakers inspire engagement
Chicagoans watched Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and other heroes of the blues on videos at the the fifth Digging Our Roots: Chicago’s Greatest Hits “listening session” this spring. – Howard Mandel
Peggy Lee And Miles Davis
If only they were still with us, two major artists would be celebrating their birthdays this weekend. – Doug Ramsey
Don’t Push: Generalists Versus Specialists – One Leads To The Other
In online forums, well-meaning parents agonize over what instrument to pick for a child, because she is too young to pick for herself and will fall irredeemably behind if she waits. But studies on the development of musicians have found that, like athletes, the most promising often have a period of sampling and lightly structured play before finding the instrument and genre that suits them. – The New York Times
New York’s Signature Theatre Company Sells Its One-Millionth $35 Ticket (Here’s How Its Audience Has Changed)
The off-Broadway theater company is celebrating its one millionth ticket sold through the initiative, and the company says its audience demographics speak to the program’s success. Almost 60% of Signature’s audience members had a two-person household that makes under $100,000 a year. Contrast that to a typical Broadway-goer who comes from a two-person household that makes more than twice that, according to stats from the Broadway League. – Fast Company
Libraries Have Indeed Become Our New Community Centers
Libraries step in to fill gaps and offer help when normal channels are inaccessible. Pima County, Arizona, pays for a team of nurses to come to the library to help with medical questions for those who can’t or won’t go to a hospital, clinic, or doctor. In Charleston, West Virginia, librarians told me that they have launched searches for people to research health issues or concerns. In some libraries, librarians have Narcan training. – The Atlantic
Study: Having A Purpose May Help You Live Longer
A study of nearly 7,000 older Americans found that, over a four-year period, people who felt their lives had meaning were less likely to die than their counterparts who lacked that conviction. “Purposeful living may have health benefits,” a research team led by Aliya Alimujiang of the University of Michigan writes in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Why The Printed Book Still Thrives
When people go on a digital cleanse, detoxing from the poison of too much screen time, one of the first things they do is bury themselves in a book — that is, one to have and to hold, to remind the senses of touching “Pat the Bunny” in infancy, a book to chew on. – The New York Times