Musicians and their audiences may be physically separated these days, but they’re closer emotionally, writes David Patrick Stearns. “The old sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ — each side with its respective definition of excellence — is now more of a collective ‘us.’ We’re part of the same extended family, because artists are delivering something less filtered, and audiences are listening past questionable sound quality, faulty computer connections, and superficial biases. Listeners are likely to embrace, with fewer or no conditions, whatever the artists have to give us each day. The rewards can be huge.” – WQXR (New York City)
Blog
Remembering Cellist Lynn Harrell
Mark Swed: “I’ve never heard a cellist make the instrument sing quite the way Harrell did. Despite his impressive physical presence — he had been an athlete in his youth and traded football for music — his sound was not particularly loud and never penetrating. He was anything but pushy when it came to the limelight. Rather, his way was to rely on the sheer persuasion of song and personality.” – Los Angeles Times
Lessons On Solitude From An Author Who’s Not Thoreau
“In Rousseau’s scheme of things, solitude was the natural human state. By stepping outside of society, by distancing oneself from other voices, one was facilitating a return to oneself. But being with oneself is one thing; writing about the state of being with oneself, another.” – The Paris Review
Behold The Live-Streaming Fundraising Machine
During the COVID-19 shutdown, live-streamed concerts have grown from a novelty born of necessity into a fixture of cultural life. D-Nice’s dance parties (known to include a presidential candidate or two), Instagram Live’s R&B/hip-hop battles and Fortnite and Minecraft’s virtual festivals have remade live music. Global Citizen’s “One World: Together at Home” event was a veritable live-streamed Live-Aid. Likewise, the Weitz family’s Zooms have become a notable hub for big-dollar fundraising and pop-star appearances. – Los Angeles Times
Advice For Dancers Who Fear Their Companies Will Shut Down, From Colleagues Who’ve Been Through It
“Of course, people are doing everything possible to avoid that fate. But fears of folding are, understandably, creating major anxiety right now. To gain some perspective, [we] spoke to a few people who’ve been through company closures in the past, and proven just how resilient dance artists can be.” – Dance Magazine
Where (And Why) Science Is Failing Us
The average scientist’s acquaintance with philosophy tends to be of the passing variety. This is a great pity. Deep-rooted, seemingly intractable problems in foundational theoretical physics – the physics of matter and radiation, space, time and the Universe – have now frustrated progress for 50 years or more. We’re living through a period in the history of foundational physics in which ideas about nature are cheap, but gathering the empirical facts needed to show that these ideas have anything at all to do with the real world has become extraordinarily expensive, protracted and time-consuming, and without guarantee of success. – Aeon
How’s Canada’s Arts Sector Holding Up Through The COVID Crisis? Better Than In The States
Things are far from perfect north of the border, but overall Canadian artists and organizations say they feel relatively well taken care of, especially when they look south. Kate Brown reports. – Artnet
One Of Sydney’s Major Arts Centers Declares Bankruptcy Due To COVID And The Lockdown
Carriageworks, Australia’s largest arts center devoted to contemporary work, has entered voluntary administration (as it’s called there). A statement from a spokesperson said, “The sudden cancellation or postponement of six months of activities due to restrictions on public gatherings has resulted in an irreparable loss of income.” – The Guardian
Mezzo Rosalind Elias Dead At 90
She made her Metropolitan Opera debut at age 23 and sang 54 roles there over 42 years, becoming one of the most beloved singers within the company. Perhaps most notable among the many operas she sang at other houses was Samuel Barber’s Vanessa: she created the role of Erika in the opera’s premiere, and almost 50 year’s later she sang that character’s grandmother. What’s more, at age 81 she made her Broadway debut. – The Washington Post
Glyndebourne Opera Festival Bows To The Inevitable, Cancels Remainder Of Summer Season
“[Festival management] had previously cancelled all performances up to and including July 14, but the festival was due to continue until August 30. A virtual festival, Glyndebourne Open House, has been announced in its place, which will begin on May 24. Opera fans will be able to stream a free, full-length past production at 5pm every Sunday.” – The Telegraph (UK)