Applause Is The Crucial Thing We Lack In Performances Without An Audience

“So reflexive is applause, it can be easy to forget how powerful it is, what makes it important enough to fake” in performances and sports events without live audiences. “Applause is a marvel of atonal expressiveness. A spontaneous projection of unity. And much like the art it responds to, we are worse off without it; it’ one of those things we do to make us less afraid of each other.” – The Washington Post

How To Bring L.A. Back From Disease, Dissension, And Unrest? Build Concert Halls, Says Mark Swed

“On the surface, that no doubt sounds idiotic — economically, socially and in just about every other way,” writes the L.A. Times classical music critic. “It’s not. It is the simplest, surest, most affordable means of turning this town around. Better still, we’re already nearly there. So please, bear with me.” – Los Angeles Times

Are The Detroit Institute Of Arts And Its Director Simply Out Of Touch With Their City?

“At a time when museum leaders across the country are being challenged on whether their institutions are systemically racist, few are confronting as many thorny issues as [Salvador] Salort-Pons. Current and former staff have called for his resignation, complaining he has developed a corrosive, authoritarian manner while retaining a certain obtuseness on matters of race in a city that is predominantly Black.” – The New York Times

During The Pandemic, Small Local Bookstores Have Gotten More Love Than They Can Handle (And Customers Don’t Love That)

“As the novel coronavirus takes its toll on businesses all over the world, many well-meaning consumers have flocked to local community bookstores. However, increased demand on these small shops has put a strain on business owners. Even worse, some have received backlash from impatient and disgruntled customers for slow shipping or sold out inventories.” – The Washington Post

Can Reading Fight Racism?

The pandemic changed some things, and then came the murder of George Floyd – and the largest civil rights movement in U.S. history. “Anti-racist manuals have been cleaned out from virtual bookstore shelves and pushed to the top of bestseller lists. And often, these buyers don’t want to read alone. Enter the anti-racist book club.” – BuzzFeed

Nothing, Absolutely Nothing, Can Beat Live Music

The first concert since lockdown is definitely special (not that it’s weird to be masked and distant anymore; it’s simply exciting to be there). “It’s been difficult but clarifying to see how mightily classical music struggles in an online-only format. Experiencing sound in person, among others, turns out to be even more essential than I’d assumed. This art form has long been devoted to recordings — but always as a counter, an implied (or screamed) comparison, to real performances.” – The New York Times

More COVID Innovation: A Drive-Through Art Exhibition

Leave it to the ingenious Dutch. With both the Rotterdam Ahoy conference and exhibition center and the city’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen closed due to the pandemic, the two institutions got together to use the Ahoy’s large space to display video installations that visitors can view from vehicles. Electric cars only; if you don’t have one, you can borrow one on site. – Deutsche Welle

How NPR Is Captive To Its Core Audience

How does framing stories for this audience shape how public radio stations tell stories? At every stage of story production—from the reporter’s “pitch” to their editor, through the process of reporting, editing, and airing—powerful figures within the newsroom invoke “the audience” and effectively restrict stories that challenge prevailing notions of racial progress. – American Prospect

Now This Is Zoom Opera That Works — And It’s For Young Kids

“Admittedly, preschoolers, Zoom and opera don’t immediately sound like the makings of a successful project, but each installment I watched of Opera Starts With Oh! — helmed by director, choreographer and teaching artist Emma Jaster and Opera Lafayette community engagement manager Ersian François — kept its grid of budding opera buffs rapt with an action-packed half-hour of activities, performances and assorted operatic antics.” – The Washington Post