“If I want to improvise during “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” for example, first I memorize it. That’s because when I’m performing onstage, I want to let my mind be completely free. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is there, and I can come back to it if I want, but what I’m creating is greater than the sum of the parts — technical ability, notes, themes — I’ve collected along the way. The song is in the back of my brain where many other things are stored, and in that way, it becomes just another item that I can call upon when I’m playing.” – The New York Times
Blog
When Will Broadway Be Back?
Theater owners are the most eager to get Broadway back in gear; top producers are more cautious, since they are the ones who lose their shirts over diminished demand. All acknowledge that the Broadway inventory will have to be smaller and leaner to survive. That’s why Disney Theatrical pulled the plug on “Frozen” on Thursday; they would rather try and sell two family shows in this environment than three. More producers will do the same. – Chicago Tribune
COVID As An Opportunity For The Arts To Reconsider
“Comparing the Covid-19 pandemic with the second world war is a perilous and largely ridiculous game. Yet in purely practical terms, the war was the last time cultural organisations ground entirely to a halt. Robert Skidelsky’s biography of John Maynard Keynes notes that the economist liked to say he used the calm of war to reflect on the turmoil of peace. That reflection led to an entirely new settlement for the arts in Britain – the foundation of the Arts Council of Great Britain, forged from a sense that arts and culture were a way of providing healing and comfort to all of society after a national trauma. This was done in the same political breath as the foundation of the NHS.” – The Guardian
How Live Online Is Evolving
Some performers get their fans involved – whether by taking requests or doing Q&As, virtual charity festivals or tutorials like Duran Duran star John Taylor with his bass masterclasses and Oti Mabuse with her dance lessons. Listening parties have also been a big hit. Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess has carved out a sideline as host of #timstwitterlisteningparty. Fans and musicians listen together in real time, tweeting their thoughts and memories. – BBC
Emotion As A Virus
There is a growing body of scientific evidence showing that our internal mental states, including our emotions, might also be socially transmissible. Understanding the nature and dynamics of this emotional contagion is crucial in highlighting how social interactions might impact on our wellbeing. – Psyche
Billionaire Art Collectors Are Moving Art Out Of Berlin. Why?
Der Tagesspiegel, a local newspaper, saw the departure of the Flick collection as “further proof of Berlin’s gradual metamorphosis from a creative hub into a stronghold for property speculators”. – The Guardian
What Our Social Media Images Say About Our Crisis
“Our images don’t often depict the pandemic explicitly, say with an ambulance or an unusually empty street, but they likely convey how you are feeling through this. Anxiety, grief, boredom, fear, and exhaustion are often the content of social photos right now, even if they don’t depict something like a face mask.” – Artnet
Cleo Parker Robinson Talks About 50 Years Of Her Dance Company In Denver
“Long ago, both jobs and respect were hard to come by for choreographers and dancers. This was especially true for women of color, as well as for modern dance. Respect went more easily towards ballet. I wanted to balance all my interests, to be in Denver and the world at the same time. When you find your true voice, the funding will follow.” – Dance Magazine
Why Did Shostakovich Join the Party?
One of the most controversial acts in the ever-controversial life of Dmitri Shostakovich was his tortured decision in 1960 to join the Communist Party. It is not mentioned in Testimony (1979) – the composer’s influential memoirs, collaboratively written with Solomon Volkov. But Volkov offered his own view, for the first time, in a Zoom chat the other day produced by PostClassical Ensemble. – Joseph Horowitz
How Technology is Shaping Opera
Opera America had asked me to speak at their annual conference this year, but of course the conference was canceled and moved online. So I made this video for the online conference, talking about the influence of technology on opera and how audience expectations evolve as they use technology. – Douglas McLennan