Category: people

The revered African-American folksinger, now 77, was hospitalized in late October in New York City as her kidneys gave out. Doctors stabilized her condition and she is on dialysis; she remains determined to perform at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January.

“Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, gave a piano recital for the Queen yesterday during her visit to Buckingham Palace. Dr Rice performed music by Johannes Brahms accompanied on violin by Louise Shackleton, the wife of David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary. Three members of the London Symphony Orchestra offered backing to the high-profile duo.”

On the 50th anniversary of the founding of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, eight luminaries (including Judith Jamison, Garth Fagan and Wynton Marsalis) offer reminiscences of the path-breaking African-American choreographer.

The man whom Pablo Casals called “the ideal clarinetist,” Mitchell Lurie, died in Los Angeles at age 86. He was principal clarinet with the Pittsburgh and Chicago Symphony Orchestras in his 20s, then moved to California and became a much-sought-after soloist, chamber player and film musician. He also developed reeds, mouthpieces and ligatures that are now used worldwide.

“Danish architect Joern Utzon who designed the Sydney Opera House has reportedly died…
Mr Utzon drew up the design for the opera house in 1957 but quit seven years before it was finished after scandals about cost blowouts and design arguments… He was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for the sculptural building that the jury singled out as among the most iconic buildings of the 20th century.”

“Joern Utzon died having overseen detailed plans for the renovation of the Opera House, but without knowing whether the $800 million needed to realise his grand vision had been secured. Without this money, the unfinished business of fixing the opera theatre’s problems with acoustics and space would put its future as a performing venue at risk.”

“William Gibson, a playwright who had a gift for creating strong, popular female characters and wrote The Miracle Worker, died on Tuesday in Stockbridge, Mass. He was 94.”

“Claude Lévi-Strauss, who altered the way Westerners look at other civilizations, turned 100 on Friday, and France celebrated with films, lectures and free admission to the museum he inspired, the Musée du Quai Branly.”

“William Gibson, 94, a Tony Award-winning playwright best known for “The Miracle Worker,” the inspirational story of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, died Nov. 25 at his home in Stockbridge, Mass. … Mr. Gibson, whose work appeared on Broadway for five decades, was known for the demanding roles he wrote for women.”

DS: “Is the small screen a good format for discussing meditation?”
DL: “Any format is a good format for meditation. Every single person has within an ocean of pure vibrant consciousness.” […]
DS: “As a devotee of cultivated bliss, how do you explain the proclivity for twisted eroticism and dismembered body parts in your films?”
DL: “A filmmaker doesn’t have to suffer to show suffering. You just have to understand it. You don’t have to die to shoot a death scene.”