Category: AJBlogs

Art Errors: Steve Cohen Evades Not Only the Feds, But Also the New Yorker’s Fact-Checkers When I read the art-related passages in the New Yorker‘s Total Return: When the feds went after a hedge-fund legend (aka Steve Cohen, the mega-collector ), all I could think of was: Where are the … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-01-13

Good News for the New Year: Reinstallation of the Getty Villa
If you’re down in the dumps about Trump, or just coping with some post-holiday blues, I’m making an effort this month to perk you up with something atypical of the hypercritical CultureGrrl — good news. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-01-12

California in New York
Two of the many dance performances that the week in the wake of New Years Day. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-01-11

What’s fear got to do with it?
In 2014 the Wyncote Foundation commissioned Lutman & Associates to research digital adoption by legacy cultural institutions. … When I spoke about the report at conferences and meetings, arts leaders’ responses were frequently that they knew they “should be” engaging digitally, but they feel overwhelmed about beginning. Surprisingly, the most frequent response from arts leaders was not excitement, but instead fear. … read more
AJBlog: Speaker Published 2017-01-10

Talk with Them
We have recently upgraded to a new used car from a very (very) old used car. … Now, you might well ask, why am I writing about this in Engaging Matters? Anyone get there yet? Here’s the deal. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-01-10

Brace For More Bad News From The Metropolitan Museum
It’s coming – possibly Wednesday or Thursday of this week, though I doubt there will be any “announcement.” Rather, employees will learn of the museum’s financial outlook at a town hall meeting in the museum. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-01-10

What About The “Art Strike”? It’s Not So Simple
A group of artists, critics and gallerists have called for an art strike on Jan. 20. Inauguration Day. … They have every right to do so, and I have no quibbles if they want to. These are extraordinary times. But I do quibble with the idea that museums should join in – at least public museums. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-01-10

SWOT + What?
The SWOT analysis is a well-known and highly valuable tool for strategic planning. … Yet, I’ve found that there are four additional questions that deserve to be asked whenever undertaking a SWOT analysis … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2017-01-09

Dear White Orchestras
The field is having a moment right now about the lack of black and brown people in American orchestras – on stage, backstage and in the audience. Some of the energy in the current moment can be … read more
AJBlog: SongWorking Published 2017-01-09

Bewitched
Danspace Project presents Vicky Shick and Dancers, January 5 through 7. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-01-08

12 Plays of Xmas:  10. Thieves’ Carnival by Jean Anouilh
I’ve just seen the trailer for La La Land (again), and now I’d like some of that at the theatre, please. Colourful, romantic, witty, blithe, with just enough melancholy to cut the sugar icing. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-01-06

Monday Recommendation: Bill Evans Lost Sessions
Bill Evans, Some Other Time: The Lost Sessions From The Black Forest (Resonance) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-09

12 Plays of Xmas:  9. The Town Fop by Aphra Behn
‘Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.’ WH Auden speaks true – one of the pleasures of this little project has been sitting down with the past. Sometimes, however, … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-01-05

DBQ Having Fun In Paris
As the Rifftides staff continues recovering from the holidays and auditions a few dozen incoming albums, let’s follow a lead sent by frequent commenter Terence Smith. Mr. Smith writes from his sanctuary in … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-05

12 Plays of Xmas:  8. Ecstasy by Mike Leigh
A friend points out that this hasn’t been the cheeriest of series. Few hugs and no sign at all of puppies. This may say something about me, or my bookshelves. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-01-04

Cry of the Heart
Several months ago, ArtsJournal.com, the host of this blog, posted an article about opera in Great Britain that had the following teaser title: Opera Is Not Too Posh And Exclusive, And If You Think It Is, It’s Your Own Damn Fault, Says Opera Boss … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-01-03

Belletto’s Birthday: Two Recordings
This is the birthday of saxophonist and bandleader Al Belletto (1928-2014), providing a perfect reason to listen to two of the recordings he and his sextet made in 1957. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-03

Nine for Four
In 2009 I heard the Prism Quartet play Pagine, a set of arrangements by Salvatore Sciarrino of works spanning several centuries.  I was taken with suppleness of the ensemble, its ability to adapt itself to … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-01-03

Derek Gripper’s Classical Kora Transcriptions
The last day of WOMEX is usually taken up with an awards ceremony and last minute networking within the world music community. But this year it found me traveling through Galicia in a bus bound … read more
AJBlog: OtherWorldly Published 2017-01-03

Cast a cold eye
For all its increasingly aggressive incivility, I still get a fair amount of pleasure out of Twitter, enough so that I continue to take part in threads which amuse me sufficiently. Here’s a recent one: … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-01-03

7 Audience Development Resolutions for 2017
“Your beliefs become your thoughts; Your thoughts become your words; Your words become your actions; Your actions become your habits; Your habits become your values; Your values become your destiny.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Together, let’s make these resolutions for 2017: … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2017-01-01

Patti Smith’s New Year’s Eve vow: “We must not behave!”
Grey-haired but loose and limber — funny, fierce, profane and poetically incantatory — Smith celebrated her 70th birthday in the city of her origin as if for all boomers and our progeny. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2017-01-01

Monday Recommendation: Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The Declaration Of Musical Independence (ECM)
Andrew Cyrille, a bold drummer, long since established his audacity and the independence underscored in the album title. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-02

What will remain
My posting about the sad fate of my beloved Uncle Paul, who vanished without trace from my life when I was a boy, brought me a fair amount of correspondence, including … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-01-02

12 Plays of Xmas: 6 Pal Joey by O’Hara, Rodgers & Hart
Book trouble – it’s the curse of the musical. One of my most slaveringly anticipated shows of the past winter was David Bowie’s Lazarus, but the book by Enda Walsh was an embarrassment of … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-01-01