Category: AJBlogs

The Communal High of Twyla Tharp in Los Angeles
In advance of Twyla Tharp’s 4-day run at the Wallis Theater in Beverly Hills … a call went out for public volunteers to participate in a staging … read more
AJBlog: Fresh Pencil Published 2015-10-13

Ethan Hawke As “Chet Baker”
This seems to be the season for a new round of films based, more or less, on the lives of jazz trumpet players.  … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-10-13

Little Miss Wolfsbane
Dawn Powell and I go back a long way. I wrote about her in the New York Times Book Review in 1995, asking the same question that everybody asks: why isn’t so deliciously witty a writer more popular? … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-10-13

“Overwhelmed by Art”: My WSJ Article on Wadsworth Atheneum’s Dazzling Transformation
Can the Wadsworth Atheneum regain its former reputation as a midsized museum with outsized importance? … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-13

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Becoming An Art Convert In Spain – And Why
Earlier this year, I made an art pilgrimage to Valladolid, the home of Spain’s National Museum of Sculpture. So much Spanish Renaissance and Baroque sculpture resides and stays in Spain, sometimes because it can’t leave and sometimes because there is no demand to borrow it, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2015-10-12

Dreaming a Never-Stopping Dance
The Seán Curran Company brings East and West together at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater.  … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-10-12

Monday Recommedation: Karrin Allyson
Songs Richard Rodgers wrote with lyricist Lorenz Hart from 1925 to the early 1940s have been among the standards most often played and sung by jazz artists. … read more
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It’s the Experience, Stupid
AJBlog: Audience WantedPublished 2015-10-11

Bouchercon 2015 Raleigh (writing not jazz)

Flights of crazy fancy
Now my fourth — and next to last — post on changing the conservatory curriculum.  … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-10-08

Blank Space: What’s Missing from the Metropolitan Museum’s “Ancient Egypt” Show?
The Metropolitan Museum’s monumental Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom (Oct. 12-Jan. 24) displays some 230 objects, ranging from monumental stone sculptures to delicate jewelry — “the first comprehensive exhibition to be presented of Middle Kingdom art,” … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-08

Is it all about grit?
From a young age, we’re told that if you work hard and practice every day you can achieve your goals. This often requires focus on few or only one thing in order to reach a desired level of success … but for most – we’re just not wired that way. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-08

Which path is the right path?
Informational interviews are one of the most beneficial ways to understanding what you need in order to get where you want to be. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-08

How to Get Lucky (It’s Not What You Think)
We’ve talked about lots of different elements that factor into a career path. We’ve shared words of wisdom, scholarly articles, tools and frameworks. But I think we’ve yet to talk about what is arguably the biggest factor in one’s career – luck. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-08

Mays & Company Revisit The Seasons
This weekend, The Seasons Performance Hall in Yakima, Washington, marks its 10th anniversary with two concerts by pianist Bill Mays, the hall’s first performer. In its first years the decommissioned Christian Science Church, an acoustic … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-10-08

And Tipu’s Tent Too — the stuff of India
What would your house look like if Indian textiles had never been exported? Mine would be bereft of cushions, chair covers, hand towels, tablecloths and napkins, wall hangings, garden parasols, … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2015-10-08

Sweet enough for you?
Advance booking for the theatre can backfire. I saw Medea at London’s Almeida Theatre yesterday, so missed the UK’s major television event – the final of the Great British Bake-Off. Medea was, yeah, interesting … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2015-10-08

The Grand Both/And
For a long while, my teaching in arts management has emphasized “balance” … the nuanced navigation of opposing forces, the careful and reflective response to instability. … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2015-10-08

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Inside Out vs. Outside In
There are two schools of thought when it comes to eating a cinnamon roll. … These differing styles are a fair comparison to how organizations approach arts marketing. …read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2015-10-06

Identifying Skills
Trying to determine what your strengths and weakness are as you assess the next step or new step in your career? When making a change to this degree, we can often take for granted our most powerful skills. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-07

Finding Your Career Strategy
Matthew May urges us to consider a new definition of career planning. In fact, he tells us to throw away the word “planning” all together. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-07

Fastest Route from Point A to Point B, Not Always a Straight Line
Ok. Let’s say you’ve done some soul searching, consulted your family and your most trusted advisors. You can now safely say that you know: ① where you are and ② where you want to be. Now what? … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-07

ISIS Crisis: AAMD’s Risky “Safe Haven” Initiative for Endangered Archaeological Material
Understandably distressed by the inability of the international cultural community to prevent the continued decimation of world heritage by ISIS, members of Association of Art Museum Directors could be putting their own institutions at risk by implementing … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-07

What Happened
If you find yourself in the middle of Virginia this Saturday night, check out the Garth Newel Piano Quartet concert: they are playing a piece of mine from 2004 called What Happened.  … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2015-10-07

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Business Model You
Produced by the same team that created the tried and true Business Model Canvas, this book uses the same canvas as a space for you to map your personal business model and professional identity. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-06

A Map of Your Mind
You might have used a mind map to sort ideas you’ve brainstormed about a project or create an outline of a specific topic you are researching, but have you ever used this tool to map your own career path? … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-06

National Academy Update (plus: details on its shaky financials)
The “update” is that there is no update.  … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-06

A Tragedy Averted
General Director Kasper Holten’s statement that the new sound system at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden will never be used to amplify singers could not be more welcome.  … read more
AJBlog: OperaSleuth Published 2015-10-06

You Can Help Stop Cultural Destruction: Chartres Chapter
Universally recognized as a masterpiece of cultural heritage – inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979 – the Cathedral of Our Lady in Chartres is under attack by it would-be restorers. Now maybe you can help stop the dreadful makeover … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2015-10-06

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What are the qualities of a strong arts leader?
This is perhaps the most important question as you think about your own career path in the arts. What does success look like for you? What do you need to get there? Everyone will have their own definition. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-05

Designing Your Life
Bill Burnett shares his thoughts on one of the toughest questions we all face in life: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Burnett believes that “the notion that you need to have a passion and follow it is a destructive idea” and that by using design-thinking principles, … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-05

A Career Path Matrix
Bill Barnett shares an easy to implement matrix that can help you determine where your personal objectives are best met when it comes to making career decisions. Matrices are not new tools, … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-05

Moon Shot: Charting Your Path
A career in the arts. Some (parents) might say that’s an oxymoron. But, if you’re reading this, it’s likely the path you are on. There is, however, a way to navigate the path and perhaps even put the skeptics at ease. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-10-04

Tweets in search of a context: the great acceleration
I have yet to see Best of Enemies, the film documentary on the William F. Buckley, Jr.-Gore Vidal TV debates, originally telecast by ABC in 1968, about which acres of windy prose  … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-10-05

Fall Photo Plus Video & Monday Recommendation: Scott Robinson
Returning from a weekend reunion of classmates, I drove through the Cascade Mountains as the deciduous trees on Blewett Pass were beginning their glorious fall display … which inspired thoughts of this: Now Comes The Recommendation … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-10-05

More Perfect Union (than with Corcoran): University of Maryland & Phillips Collection Tie the Knot
It seems that Wallace Loh, president of the University of Maryland (UMD), never got over his desire to form a far-reaching partnership with a Washington, D.C., art museum. Change the partner from the (now dismantled) Corcoran … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-05

Keel
Marian Seldes observed that one of the great problems of being an actor was accepting, or coming to terms with the inevitable rejection in auditioning for roles each year. Along with artistic capacity … read more
AJBlog: PianoMorphosis Published 2015-10-05

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Music theory for a new century
So now – continuing about changes in the conservatory curriculum – some thoughts about how to teach music history and theory. And remember that I’m offering free consulting sessions to anyone who’d like to … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-10-01

My kind of person
Apropos of this really embarrassing piece, my kind of person …
• … prefers hot dogs to hamburgers.
• … prefers trains to planes – in theory.
• … likes Johnny Mercer best:
• … likes Carolyn Leigh second best:  … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-10-01

So you want to see a show?
Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened.  … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-10-01

The Pope, the music and the evacuation
A pope without music is like a ship without a flag. It’s part of the papal aura – but, unlike incense, it doesn’t send your sinuses into spasms. At the Festival of Families Saturday night … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2015-09-30

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Farmer and the Cowman Redux
Three years ago I published a post titled The Farmer and the Cowman in which I acknowledged an epiphany about the relationship between arts marketing and community engagement. In the past six months … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2015-09-29

The Pope, the music and the evacuation
A pope without music is like a ship without a flag. It’s part of the papal aura – but, unlike incense, it doesn’t send your sinuses into spasms. At the Festival of Families Saturday night … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2015-09-30

October Blues: Line-Dance Clicks
“Owing to the Greeks” –  Tom McCartney on historical roots of the European Union fiscal crisis. “Do we mistake inaccessibility for brilliance?” – Leslie Jamison in NYT’s Bookends column (turkey headline), August 30 … read more
AJBlog: blog riley Published 2015-09-30

Diffident Leviathan
Accordionist Veli Kujala did a lovely job on my piece Reticent Behemoth for his quarter-tone accordion. Here’s the recording from the world premiere last Thursday in Turku, Finland (duration five and a half minutes). … read more
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2015-09-30

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Phil Woods, 1931-2015
Phil Woods died today, less than a month after he announced his retirement from playing. He was 83. Woods’ longtime drummer Bill Goodwin told me this afternoon that the veteran alto saxophonist “went out on his own terms,” … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-09-29

Girls Growing Up Black
How fast their feet are! Skittering, stepping, bouncing up and down, kicking out those feet, six women dance as if the ground itself is both untrustworthy territory and something that needs mastering. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-09-29

Postminimalism Takes Finland
The Fifth International Conference of Minimalist Music, in Turku and Helsinki (harbor above), Finland, was a smashing success. I ate sautéed reindeer and plenty of herring. We ended up Sunday night with only a few people left in the upstairs bar at the Torni Hotel, … read more
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2015-09-29

Monday Recommendation: Playboy Swings
For sixty years, Hugh Hefner and his Playboy magazine have been easy targets for lampoon and parody. With their fixation on the care and feeding of the male libido, they have attracted plenty of both. But there has always been more to Playboy than preoccupation with sex. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-09-28

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