A Cambridge spokesman told LBC News: “The University is constantly adapting to changing advice as it emerges during this pandemic. Given that it is likely that social distancing will continue to be required, the University has decided there will be no face-to-face lectures during the next academic year. – LBC News
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She’s The Serge Diaghilev Of The 21st Century
Beth Morrison and her company have produced dozens of new operas and music-theater works since they launched in 2005, including such prize-winning, audience-thrilling pieces as Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves and Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone. In a Q&A, she talks about how and why she crossed over from singing into production, how she chooses projects, and where she sees the art form heading. (And by the way, “Nothing’s easy about producing opera. Nothing at all. It’s expensive, it’s challenging, everything about it is hard.”) – San Francisco Classical Voice
Motion Picture Academy Considers Postponing 2021 Oscars
When new temporary rule changes for Oscar eligibility were announced in April because of COVID-19, Academy president David Rubin told Variety it was too soon to know how the 2021 Oscar telecast could change in the wake of the pandemic. – Variety
Hobby Lobby, Christie’s, And The U.S. Government Are All Fighting Over The ‘Gilgamesh Dream Tablet’
The 3,600-year-old, 6×5-inch clay fragment contains the section from the Epic of Gilgamesh in which the hero recounts his dreams to his mother. The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security seized it from the Museum of the Bible last fall after determining that it had been illegally trafficked from Iraq; Hobby Lobby, which purchased the tablet for the Museum from Christie’s in 2014, is suing the auction house for fraud; Christie’s says that a unidentified dealer admitted to authorities after the fact that the tablet’s provenance documents were forged and may launch a suit of its own. – The New York Times
Germany’s First Post-COVID Classical Concert With An Audience Was On Monday. Here’s How It Went
At the State Theater of Hesse in Wiesbaden, bass Günther Groissböck and pianist Alexandra Goloubitskaia gave a recital of Schubert and Mahler before about 200 people in a 1,000-seat auditorium — with plenty of hand sanitizer around the building and intermission snacks outside the front door. (Thank heaven the weather was good.) The audience, such as it was, “was ecstatic.” – The New York Times
First Major US Art Museum To Reopen Post-COVID Starts Up This Weekend
Here’s a look at the safety measures which the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has put in place for receiving visitors beginning this Saturday. The San Antonio Museum of Fine Arts is following soon after, opening to visitors next Tuesday and the general public the following Thursday. – Artnet
Texas Ballet Theater Cuts Budget, Salaries, Season Due To COVID
The company, which performs in Fort Worth and Dallas, is reducing its total budget from $10.8 million to $8.5 million, reducing dancer and staff pay on a scale from 5% to 20%, changing dancer contracts from 40 to 38 weeks, and postponing the start of next season until the holiday run of The Nutcracker, thus cutting programming from five to four productions. – The Dallas Morning News
Akron Art Museum Director Resigns Following Allegations Of Mistreatment Of Staff
“Executive director Mark Masuoka resigned from his position effective immediately after seven years leading the Ohio institution. The news came less than three weeks after ARTnews published nearly a half-dozen allegations of sexism, racism, and bullying under his leadership at the museum.” – ARTnews
Pandemic Lockdown Has Venice Wondering If It Can Fix Its Tourism Problems
“In Venice, a city famous for being visited by too many and home to too few, … [locals] hope the crisis has also provided an opportunity to reimagine one of the world’s most fragile cities, creating a more sustainable tourism industry and attracting more full-time residents. – AP
BBC Three Could Become An Over-The-Air TV Channel Again
“The corporation is actively exploring reviving the broadcast channel, four years after it was taken online-only, … after enjoying a run of hits – from Fleabag [and Killing Eve] to lockdown obsession Normal People – that have rated with the youth audience the corporation is desperate to win over.” – The Guardian