In case you are unaware, video games and video game music have come a long way from the 8-bit MIDI sound effects of Donkey Kong. It’s a musical realm that has produced its own roster of superstar composers beginning in the 1980s with synthesizer “techno” scores created for games like The Revenge of Shinobi and Streets of Rage by Yuzo Koshiro; Koji Kondo’s accompaniment for Super Mario Brothers; and Nobuo Uematsu’s influential scores for the highly successful Final Fantasy series. To the point that Uematsu has gained the title of “the Beethoven of video games music.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
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A Day In The (Very Busy) Life Of The Ailey Company’s Production Stage Manager
“While [Kristin Colvin] Young’s job involves the responsibilities that immediately come to mind when you think of stage management — like calling the lights and sound during shows — her role encompasses everything from prepping casting inserts for programs to finalizing rehearsal schedules to giving preshow audience announcements as the ‘Voice of God.’ During a recent tour stop in Copenhagen, Young documented what a typical performance day entails.” – Dance Magazine
Lebanon’s Economy Has Collapsed. Some Artists See Opportunity
One small silver lining is that artists feel less pressure to churn out commercial material, freeing them up to experiment. “We are not expecting anything,” he says. “There are no big returns from the market during a time of economic collapse, which makes everyone feel more free to create and do as they want.” – artnet
The Three Ages Of Podcasting
“What started as a quiet digital backwater is now increasingly growing in prominence, drawing the attention of audiences and moneyed interests alike. … And the story of how we go here can be told via two major turning points: The first was everything that happened before and after 2014. The second turning point is happening right now.” – Vulture
The New Music Career: Mosaics?
“The 21st-century arts economy continues to evolve, and mosaic careers are what will enable us to keep pace with it. These are careers made up of many different parts, in different sizes. Some pieces are brighter and shinier than others; some are bigger and some are smaller. It is the combination of these parts that is essential.” – 21CM
The World’s Largest Collection Of Contemporary South African Art Belongs To — Nando’s (Yes, The Grilled Chicken Chain)
With more than 22,000 works hanging in the chain’s roughly 1,300 restaurants, Nando’s is arguably the best place in the world to check out work by contemporary South African artists. And the chain’s Creative Block program, run with the Spiers Art Trust, may be the largest corporate art initiative anywhere. – The Art Newspaper
AI Now Sees Better Than Humans Do. Also Differently. Does It Matter?
People don’t fully acquire the ability to suppress clutter in a crowded scene and focus on what they’re looking for until around age 17. Other research has found that the ability to perceive faces keeps improving until around age 20. Computer vision systems work by digesting massive amounts of data. Their underlying architecture is fixed and doesn’t mature over time, the way the developing brain does. If the underlying learning mechanisms are so different, will the results be, too? – Nautilus
Kyle Abraham Wants To Show Us A Misty Copeland We’ve Never Seen Before
The MacArthur-winning modern choreographer is creating a new solo on the star ballerina for the opening of this year’s Fall For Dance festival in New York. Brian Seibert talks with the two of them about working with each other for the first time. – The New York Times
England’s Arts Funder Is Now A Target Of Climate Activists
A collective called Culture Declares Emergency argues that the new funding strategy proposed by Arts Council England “neither addresses the urgency of the climate and ecological emergency nor grasps the chance to trumpet boldly the pivotal role arts and culture play in bringing about societal changes needed to avert disaster.” – Arts Professional
Listening Clubs Bring Audiences Of NPR’s Spanish-Language Podcast Together In Real Life
Radio Ambulante has a Facebook group with thousands of members in more than 19 countries. Editors there decided, “Let’s go back to the first place and do this but offline. We don’t want to have Facebook in between you and other listeners.” So they’ve organized listening clubs (the podcast equivalent of book clubs) for people to meet in person, listen to Radio Ambulante, and discuss what they’ve heard. – Nieman Lab