Category: people

Roberts-Joseph was an icon in the Louisiana capital city, and she devoted her life and work to historical memory – and making Juneteenth a national holiday. Then there was “the Odell S. Williams Now and Then African-American History Museum, which she founded in 2001 and ran with volunteer help and donations. The Baton Rouge museum spotlighted black history and hosted gatherings for holidays such as Memorial Day, Kwanzaa and Juneteenth.” – Washington Post

That Shepard is starting to feel like a guide for the rest of us is surprising. He died two years ago, at the age of 73, and although the valedictions from the dramatic world were respectful, few suggested that his work was acutely relevant. But Shepard plays are back in season, and they are neither antiquarian nor regional. They are modern—even visionary—and disturbingly universal. – The Atlantic

Kenny Burrell, the 87-year-old guitarist, is still drawing a six-figure salary and health insurance from UCLA, where he has been tenured faculty for decades. But his wife launched a crowdfunding campaign in May, saying they were desperate and faced potential homelessness. (She also won’t let anyone see him or come into their home, claiming their immune systems are compromised.) Reporter Geoff Edgers investigates. – The Washington Post

Menzi Mngoma is a self-taught tenor who likes to belt out arias for his passengers. One of his customers, Kim Davey, liked his singing so much that she posted a video on Facebook. That, in turn, attracted media attention and the 27-year-old Mngoma’s career was launched. He is said to be auditioning for Cape Town Opera. A stadium tour will no doubt follow. – The Guardian

“At the Manchester International Festival, … Bruguera revealed plans to establish an investigative journalism initiative that will award prizes and grants and offer workshops for Cuban writers at the Institute of Artivism Hannah Arendt, which she founded in Havana in 2015. The announcement comes amid a crackdown on freedom of expression in the country.” – Artforum

“Acclaimed for his performances of romantic repertoire and his sweet tone, Rosand recorded prolifically and appeared with all the major orchestras around the world, making a particularly busy European career during the 1960s and ’70s,” though he never achieved the level of fame that some colleagues of the same generation did. Rosand also spent more than 30 years teaching at the Curtis Institute, where he had studied as a young man. – The Strad

“[Her] oral history project includes some 3,000 recordings of interviews with composers and other major musical figures, from Aaron Copland to Elliott Carter, from Duke Ellington to John Adams. The eminent musicologist H. Wiley Hitchcock described it as an ‘incomparable resource.'” – The New York Times

“[He] was equally at home in the comedy of the Men in Black film series or TV’s The Larry Sanders Show (for which he won his Emmy) and in the drama of Sweet Bird of Youth or Anna Christie, to name two of the numerous classic works of theater in which he appeared. … Successful onstage, in films and on television, the actor nevertheless carried a sense of persecution,” which was made worse by “his tendency toward erratic behavior.” – Variety

“I used to say that my recordings are made from the perspective of the best seat in the house,” he told Stereophile. “And immediately, of course, somebody says, ‘Well, who are you to say what’s the best seat in the house?’” – The New York Times