Bohemian Rhapsody, picked apart by cultural commentators for its divergences from the real story of Queen’s rise, is great for its realness? A band that campily reimagined rock and roll as opera, that played with baby talk and disco beats, whose lead singer paraded about in royal finery, is the ensurer of authenticity? – The Atlantic
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Billion-Dollar Foundation Dedicates Itself To Racial Equity. Founder’s Heirs Protest
Some of the 340 heirs of John Andrus, whose estate created Minnesota’s Surdna Foundation, back in the 1930s, are protesting the foundation’s funding of progressive causes and its decision to devote itself to racial equity. What would Andrus have wanted? – Chronicle of Philanthropy
NY’s Prototype Festival Shows How Hard It Is To Reinvent Opera
Anne Midgette: “Most of them could be called opera, but most of them have little to do with what you might see in an opera house. Opera houses are looking for ways to connect with new audiences; the Prototype festival shows just how far they need to change the template to really try to do it.” – Washington Post
Opera Roles Are Classified By Voice Types. Also Gender Types. Is This A Problem?
“Imagine a soprano who has just changed her voice type from mezzo-soprano to soprano. She’s immediately at a disadvantage if she lists every role that she’s performed on her resume, because it will immediately cause the review panel to question the legitimacy of her soprano-ness. The next inevitable step is that they’ll question her ability to sing the role for which she’s currently auditioning. This isn’t a gender issue any longer, but rather an issue of the current classification system’s inability to handle change.” – NewMusicBox
Why Did All The Bells On Philly’s Avenue Of The Arts Stop Ringing?
In 1996, when a multimillion-dollar renovation of South Broad Street was completed, sound artist Robert Coburn attached 39 small bronze bells to lampposts along the newly-christened “Avenue of the Arts.” For a year or so, they played melodies fed from an electronic terminal, but they’ve been silent for two decades now. A reporter found out why. — The Philadelphia Inquirer
Close Cousins to Sculpture? Stephen Buckley’s Work Needs All Three Dimensions
It is sometimes necessary to specify a third dimension – bulk or thickness – when describing a Buckley painting. The other giveaway that tells you a painting is by Buckley is its rough edges – not in any sense unfinished – but tough, butch surfaces. — Paul Levy
Extraordinary Popular Delusions, Chicago free improv all-stars
Keyboardist and synthesizer specialist Jim Baker has led the collective quartet Extraordinary Popular Delusions playing every Monday night in obscure Chicago venues for the past 13 years. — Howard Mandel
A New Phase In Art And Dance Made By Artists With Disabilities
This new wave “is a consideration of the aesthetic possibilities of disability. It’s not about adaptation or accommodation. It’s about how unique bodies, minds, senses and phenomenological experiences of disability and impairment—along with the political aspects and intersectional identities—can create new work.” – Vice
Why Did This 11th-Century Woman Have Lapis Lazuli In Her Dental Plaque?
The likely answer not only opens up a new avenue for archaeology, it indicates that a highly-skilled medieval art associated with men (chiefly monks) had female practitioners as well. — The Atlantic
How Sound Can Tip Us To Things Like Climate Change
Scientist Garth Paine: “I have spent decades making field recordings in which I create a setup before dawn or dusk, then lie on the ground listening for several uninterrupted hours. These projects have taught me how the density of the air changes as the sun rises or sets, how animal behavior shifts as a result, and how all of these things are intricately linked.”