“Seldom does such a strong, complete vocal personality leap across the decades – full of steely confidence, haunting mystery, and emotional gravity – especially one attached to a name that’s completely unknown. … ‘She had a shimmering quality to her voice … and every note that comes out of her mouth is connected to intent. There’s not one empty note on the entire CD.'”
Tag: 03.06.16
How MFA Programs Have Changed How We Write
“The debate has shifted from whether creativity could be taught to how well it can be taught and whether it should be taught. The stakes are real: Creative writing has become a big business—it’s estimated that it currently contributes more than $200 million a year in revenue to universities in the U.S.”
Mikhail Baryshnikov On Putting His Friendship With Joseph Brodsky Onstage
“I almost never directly connect to the audience. It is like someone reciting poetry for his own enjoyment, like people sing in the shower. I’m trying to remember his voice, his mannerisms. Sometimes I imitate him. And suddenly the tape starts with Joseph’s own voice. His presence is what those poems are about.”
Is This A Workable Plan To Create Pensions For Artists?
“Ten years ago, the New York-based program Artist Pension Trust contacted artists with this unusual idea: Give us some of your artworks as assets and rather than sell them as soon as possible, as a gallery would, we will hold them for future sale, probably at least for 10 years. In this way, artists could invest in their future security and benefit from a potential increase in the value of their work.”
Need More Evidence Of The Value Of A Liberal Arts Education?
“Our current national mood may be revealing something missing in our educational agenda — the cultivation of wisdom, judgment, grace once inspired by the liberal arts — and now replaced by things seemingly more serviceable but far less ambitious.”
Cambodia’s Film Gears Up
“Cinema in Cambodia has suffered a turbulent history, as the country went from the golden age of films in the 1960s headlong into the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, under which entertainment and arts were dismantled. In the 1980s and 1990s, the industry started making a gradual, slow comeback”
Why ‘Downton Abbey’ Became An American Cultural Phenomenon
“If the number of homages and parodies a TV show inspires are a reflection of its impact – and I would argue they are – you don’t have to look far to see how much the ongoing saga of Carson & Co. mattered. … Downton was so big, even LeBron watched it. But why? What was it about this show that gave it such cultural stickiness and kept so many tuning in, every January, for more than half a decade?”
Chinese Director Says Film Crews Are ‘Farmers’ Who Don’t Know What They’re Doing
“Feng said he, along with Chan and actor-director Zhang Guoli, was planning to start a vocational training academy to develop a healthier ‘base’ on a more solid footing. He also said he was thinking of inviting professionals from Hollywood to teach in his academy so that young people could learn from them.”
The Author Of The Harry Potter Books Dropped – Randomly – Into A Scottish Book Group
“Senior library assistant Stewart Bain had invited the author to attend the group over Twitter the previous day – but never expected her to come.”
Talking With The Creator Of Downton Abbey About The Finale – And The Future
“I like the idea of seeing it as something that is continuing, as opposed to finishing with Manderley burning down and that story’s over. I want to feel that in some part of the atmosphere, Mrs. Patmore is taking in her paying guests and Mary is wrestling with farming methods.”