The child whose “Wow!” captivated the classical music world “is something of a celebrity at Symphony Hall.” The Handel and Haydn Society invited the 9-year-old and his grandparents to a recent dress rehearsal where he mostly got a concert directly for him. But “before the dress rehearsal, Ronan wandered the halls and rode the elevator a few times (he is passionate about elevators). Then he spotted two musicians practicing trombone. ‘Yeah, music,’ he said.” – The Boston Globe
Blog
A Court Denies Audible’s Request For A Settlement Conference In The Captions Case
Audible may be trying to get away from this case – but publishers are ready to wade right in. “Captions is a feature that scrolls a few words of an AI-generated transcription along with a digital audiobook as it plays in the Audible app. Publishers say the program is infringing, and have moved for a preliminary injunction that would bar Audible from using the publishers’ works in the program until their copyright claim is resolved.” – Publishers Weekly
Greta Garbo’s Lonely Life Isn’t Just A Myth
Garbo wrote to her best friend, “It is hard and sad to be alone, but sometimes it’s even more difficult to be with someone … When we are here on Earth it would be so much more kind if for this short time we would be forever strong and young.” – The Observer (UK)
Arts Organizations Are Kicking Opioid Money And Oil Money To The Curb, But What About Oligarchs?
Russian oligarchs have sat on the board of the Guggenheim and given money to the Kennedy Center. They’ve funded the New Museum and historic parks in the U.S. At least, they’ve done all that until (& sometimes after) their companies are sanctioned by the U.S. This “soft power” money is approved by the Kremlin and appreciated by strapped arts institutions. “The Russian giving, and the strained relations between the countries, has created something of a minefield for American cultural organizations.” – The New York Times
Natalie Portman, Just Before She Becomes Thor
Portman’s acting life, of course, has been marked not just by Marvel movies but by that other huge franchise, Star Wars. She likes meatier roles as well, but she says, “I love getting to be part of something that is such a major part of entertainment for young people. It sets your mind-set to recognize injustice. I recently saw a sign at the climate march where this kid was like: ‘I grew up on Marvel movies. Of course I’m going to fight against wrong.'” – The New York Times
The Vision Of James Baldwin’s Last Two Works
Though they were shadowed by AIDS, the two works might feel contemporary in 2019. “Baldwin’s primary theme is described by the author thusly: ‘Forays, frontiers, and flags are useless. Nobody can go home anymore.'” – Literary Hub
Lighting Projection Design Is Changing More Than Broadway And Big Regional Theatres
Projection design is that cool part of theatre where – poof! – an entire kingdom can freeze over, as in the Broadway and touring versions of Frozen, or where, in Anastasia, “a stage-spanning LED wall displays landscapes that move in tandem with [a] train.” And it’s more portable than a huge, multi-part set, too. – Los Angeles Times
Supermarkets Are Taking Out Newspaper And Magazine Racks
Print? What is that? “What was once seen as a tool to pull in daily customers is increasingly seen as something taking up valuable floor and counter space.” – Nieman Lab
What Should Performers Do When Audience Members Are Using Their Phones?
Just a few nights after Anne-Sophie Mutter stopped a concert to tell a woman in the front row to stop filming, actor Joshua Henry, star of a new Off Broadway musical called The Wrong Man, tried to get a man in onstage seating to quit filming. The man paid no attention. So Henry “reached into the seats, deftly grabbed the phone out of the man’s hand, wagged it disapprovingly, and tossed it under a riser — all mid-song, without skipping a beat. ‘I knew I had to do something,’ he explained later.” – The New York Times
Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum Has Been Closed For Renovation For Two Years
And the results are almost in; the museum reopens on Monday, with much pomp, a lot of new paint, and a ton of QR codes. – BBC