The decision not to resume performances before Jan. 6, 2021, at the earliest came the week after the Metropolitan Opera said it would not reopen before the end of December. Like the Philharmonic, the Met has been closed since March, and has furloughed its orchestra, chorus and stagehands and some administrative staff, while continuing to provide them with health benefits. – The New York Times
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Jazz Saxophonist Don Weller Dead At 79
“A world-class saxophonist with a big sound, a big presence and a capricious improviser’s imagination, [he] sometimes seemed more at home playing pub gigs in his Croydon birthplace than chasing the high-profile career implied by his collaborations with a raft of stars. … Despite a late start, a self-effacing nature, few recordings, and a guileless indifference to just about any form of PR, he left an indelible impression.” – The Guardian
Books Are A Contrived Medium. Soon They Will Be Gone
Literacy altered the human brain, making it “refit some of its existing neuronal groups” and “form newly recycled circuits.” The brain had to change because the innate brain can’t read. It responds to what it is exposed to if exposure happens often, for a long period. Literacy develops through practice—through labor that compels the development of revised brain functions. The more you read, the more your brain adapts. It is a “plastic” organ. – Claremont Review of Books
Sure, Online Opera’s Nice, But There’s Real Magic Inside An Opera House
“The limitations of relaying opera from stage to online are subtle. It’s the difference between an experience that’s mesmerizing and one that’s merely impressive.” David Patrick Stearns considers just what it is we’re missing as houses like the Met remain dark for the rest of the year — things like grandeur, panoramic views of the stage, intermission debates with other opera fans, and the sheer energy of air molecules being moved around. – The Philadelphia Inquirer
How Indie Movie Theatres Are Innovating
“We will always have storytellers that want to tell stories and cinema has become an essential part of the way modern society does that,” said Tori Baker, the president and CEO of the nonprofit Salt Lake Film Society, which operates two art house theaters in Salt Lake City. “Sustainability — such as how many people at once, concession costs, what those concessions are — might shift. But what art houses have that the big chains don’t is the ability to innovate that experience.” – Huffington Post
Dancing In The Streets For George Floyd And Racial Justice
The Electric Slide in Harlem and the Cupid Shuffle in Newark; the bomba in Puerto Rico and voguing in Chicago; Ojibwe and Nuhua dances in Minneapolis and haka in New Zealand — those are just a few examples of dancing at recent protests that have been making the rounds on social media. “Some came to the streets with the purpose of dancing. Others were moved to dance more spontaneously, and surprised to find themselves seen by millions online.” Reporter Siobhan Burke talked to several participants “about what it has meant to them to dance in protest.” – The New York Times
How Frontline Booksellers Have Been Facing The Pandemic
“Frontline booksellers are the first people customers see when they set foot in bookstores across America. They also do physically demanding work, from carrying heavy boxes to shelving thousands of books every year. Often they work for hourly wages and are among the most vulnerable workers in the publishing industry. … Over the past eight weeks, PW spoke with five frontline booksellers to hear about their experiences. They were granted anonymity in order to be able to speak freely. These are their words, edited and condensed for clarity.” – Publishers Weekly
London’s First Purpose-Built Theatre Found In East End
“The Red Lion is thought to have been built around 1567 and probably played host to travelling groups of players. … Archaeologists are as certain as they can be that they have found its remains at a site in the East End of London where a self-storage facility once stood.” – The Guardian
Poets Threaten Boycott Of Poetry Foundation Over Response To Antiracism Protests
“More than 1,800 people have signed on to an open letter criticizing the Poetry Foundation’s response to the protests sweeping the United States, pledging not to work with the organization until it meets demands that range from replacing its president and board chairman to redirecting funds to antiracism efforts. The Chicago-based foundation is one of the nation’s wealthiest literary organizations, with an endowment that exceeds $250 million.” – The New York Times
Annenberg Space For Photography In L.A. Closes For Good As Funders Pivot To Pandemic Recovery
The museum, one of Southern California’s leading venues for photo exhibitions, had been closed for three months because of the coronavirus lockdown and was unsure when, and under what rules, it could reopen. “Its parent organization, the Annenberg Foundation, … ‘will be focusing its philanthropy especially on public health, food insecurity, economic recovery, helping get people back to work and social justice nonprofits.'” – Los Angeles Times