“De Pue, 38, resigned after 11 years as the orchestra’s principal violinist and concert coordinator. No reason was given for his departure,” which is effective immediately. “De Pue became one of the youngest concertmasters in the country when he was appointed in 2007.”
Blog
A Purge At Tanglewood Festival Chorus, The Boston Symphony’s Choir
“For decades, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s all-volunteer group of singers, dazzled audiences with its performances, delivering masterful renditions of intricate scores in German, Czech, Latin, and French — almost always from memory. But discordant notes are being struck after the chorus’s new conductor, James Burton, has unceremoniously decimated its ranks, forcing out a large swath of singers, including many of the group’s most senior members.”
Joseph Jackson, Angry Patriarch Of Pop’s Royal Family, Dead At 89
“Mr. Jackson was an unlikely starmaker who demanded nothing less than perfection as he drove his children toward stardom. To a remarkable degree, he succeeded … Collectively, the Jacksons may have been the most prominent family in pop-music history, but their fame came at the cost of family feuds, lurid accusations and an unending stream of tabloid headlines. Over time, nearly all of the children rebelled against the brutal manner of their father, who was known to some as Joe but preferred to be called Joseph, even by his children.”
U.S. Justice Dept. Approves Disney Purchase Of 21st Century Fox (With One String Attached)
“Disney has moved one step closer to purchasing a big chunk of 21st Century Fox. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced it had approved the proposed deal, valued at a total $71.3 billion … with one caveat: Disney, the owner of ESPN, must sell off 22 regional sports networks that were originally a part of the purchase, to avoid undue dominance in sports broadcasting.”
Philadelphia’s History Museum Shuttered Indefinitely After Partnership Plans Collapse
“The Philadelphia History Museum, [known until 2010 as the Atwater Kent and] mandated by the City Charter as Philadelphia’s official attic for things made and owned here — whether President George Washington’s desk or Mike Schmidt’s batting helmet — will close to the public Monday for an undetermined period of time, museum officials said Tuesday evening. The closing comes as Temple University has withdrawn from talks about a possible partnership with the museum, surprising city officials who had expressed optimism about such an alliance as recently as April.”
Kathleen Battle Is Still Kathleen Battle, Even At (Almost) 70
“Fifteen minutes into an otherwise smooth interview, Battle takes a deep breath, stops talking and puts down the phone, never to return. No goodbye. No explanation. Nada. Even stranger is the fact that the interview-killing question wasn’t even a tough one. It was a softball query about how it feels to have her career still going strong as she approaches 70.” (Has she never heard of the Streisand Effect?)
Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum Will Reopen Next January
“[The Hood] is due to reopen on 26 January 2019 after a closure of nearly three years for an expansion and revamp by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. The $50m project expands the museum’s space by 50% to over 62,000 sq ft, adds six new galleries and renovates the museum’s original 1985 Charles Moore building.”
An Attempt To Understand Racial Disparity At Nonprofits In Oakland
A total of 138 organizations serving people of color in Oakland with budgets of $250,000 or less are included in the research. In addition to documenting the impact of these grassroots groups (hint: it’s not just about the arts), the report highlights challenges faced by smaller cultural organizations and offers four overarching recommendations for policymakers and funders to consider.
The Greatest Literary Con Man Of The 20th Century?
Though his tallest tales were those he passed off as the truth, he was as popular as he was prolific, producing more than 30 volumes of prize-winning essays, plays, memoir and fiction, including La Vie devant soi, the bestselling French novel of the 20th Century. But his star faded as he aged and was further dimmed by posthumous revelations that he’d duped the Parisian literary establishment, publishing some of his most rapturously received works (La Vie among them) under a fake name.
The Noxious Problem With Stupid Opinions
We are seeing the worsening of a trend that the 20th century German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse warned of back in 1965: “In endlessly dragging debates over the media, the stupid opinion is treated with the same respect as the intelligent one, the misinformed may talk as long as the informed, and propaganda rides along with education, truth with falsehood.” This form of “free speech,” ironically, supports the tyranny of the majority.