The author of Olive Kitteredge (for which she won a Pulitzer) and many other novels, including 2019’s Olive, Again, just fell for the playing of pianist Hélène Grimaud, and continues to find Edward Hopper’s art comforting. – The Guardian (UK)
Author: ArtsJournal2
Sean Connery, Scottish Definer Of James Bond, 90
Connery was Bond for seven films and embodied him for many Bond fans. He dismayed those fans “by walking away from the Bond franchise and went on to have a long and fruitful career as a respected actor and an always bankable star.” – The New York Times
Viola Smith, Who Blazed A Path For Women Drummers In Big Band And Swing, 107
Smith was called a “hep girl” and billed as the “fastest girl drummer in the world.” In the formerly all-male preserve of the big band and swing eras, “Smith sat behind a giant drum set that included a double bass drum, an instrument that would years later become a tool for hard-hitting rock drummers.” – The Guardian (UK)
Seattle Chamber Music Society Says Its Online Festival Went Surprisingly Well
What, cheerful classical music news right now? Yes. Adding comments such as “filled my life with joy,” hundreds of patrons responded to a survey about the Chamber Music Society’s Virtual Summer Music Festival. The festival “rated 8.4 on a scale of 10. It brought in 389 new ticket purchasers (32% of patrons) and 92 first-time donors, many international patrons, and 300 more subscribers than usual — likely because there were no constraints on the size of the concert-hall space.” – Seattle Times
The Arts Bailout In The UK Gives Hope, And A Few More Months, To Some
The bailout came to more than 2,000 arts organizations and venues in Britain (and U.S. arts groups are feeling quite jealous). But: “For many, the joy might not last long. The terms of the grants state that they must be spent by Mar. 31 next year. After that, on Apr. 1, if institutions can’t operate profitably with social distancing limiting numbers, many will again face the prospect of layoffs or closing.” – The New York Times
A Comic Artist Has To Earn His Sources’ Trust Just Like Any Other Journalist
Joe Sacco is famous in certain circles for his comics journalism books that recount complex tales in places readers might not know well. And accuracy – even in a cartoon-like book – is key. His new book might be his most detailed. “It’s about indigenous people who say that the land owns them and they are part of the land. So in a way, drawing them as accurately as possible, drawing their clothing, drawing their tents, their dogsleds correctly, and drawing the land itself in detail was kind of my way of honoring their own vision.” – Slate
Donors Claim To Rescind 50 Million In Gifts To Baltimore Museum Over Warhol Sale
But, plot twist: Did those gifts ever exist in the first place? The “chairwoman of the board of trustees, said in an email that the museum has no record of a $50 million pledge or any pledges totaling that amount.” – Washington Post
Misty Copeland Thinks That After George Floyd, The Ballet World Is Listening
Copeland says that “for the first time in her 20-year career, people are starting to listen to her about the problem of diversity within the global ballet industry.” – BBC
The Nuns Singing, And Recording, Through The Pandemic
On the eve of lockdown in March, the Poor Clares of Arundel “were in the final stages of recording their debut album. The sisters hope it will bring some of the simple, balanced principles of cloister life to those struggling with the fallout from Covid.” – The Observer (UK)
A Counter-Lawsuit In The City Ballet Scandal Presents The Photo Sharer As The Real Victim
Chase Finlay is the dancer who remains out of the dance world after his sharing of intimate photos of his then-girlfriend, fellow dancer Alexandra Waterbury, with others at City Ballet. He now claims “it was he who had been the victim of abuse at the hands of Ms. Waterbury.” – The New York Times