“The Colored American Opera Company was born at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church – the first all-black church in the nation’s capitol – where an Italian priest invited a white Spanish-American veteran of the U.S. Marine Band … to teach a French style of Opéra Bouffe to an African-American choir. In doing so, in 1873, just a decade after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, together, they created the first American opera company – black or white – in the nation.” (podcast)
Tag: 01.17.17
Listen To A Pipe Organ Powered By Candles
“In the video, Dutch artist Ronald van der Meijs shows his elaborate musical mechanism. Inspired by the Muller Organ housed at Grote Kerk church next to the gallery [in Haarlem], the series of pipes looks like a massive artillery weapon connected to wooden beam air ducts. The intricate system requires careful maintenance – van der Meijs changes out the candles multiple times a day as they burn.”
Is The Non-Profit Bookstore The Answer To Bookselling?
“The answer may lie with niche-filling shops like Pittsburgh’s new City of Asylum Books, part of a nascent multipurpose cultural center on the city’s North Side called Alphabet City Center. Alphabet City is a consolidated space recently acquired by City of Asylum, a nonprofit arts organization providing sanctuary and forums of expression for exiled writers of all genres from other countries, introducing many unsung voices to the Pittsburgh public through literary community events.”
A Movie About Three Black Women – Mathematicians, No Less – Is Outselling Ben Affleck And Martin Scorsese
“The success of Hidden Figures comes as debates over racial diversity and gender pay equity dominate Hollywood. And its stars have pointed to the film as proof that movies helmed by black women are not inherent commercial risks.”
Dealers Sue Getty Museum Over Antiquities Deal That Never Actually Happened
Geneva-based Phoenix Ancient Art “is seeking $77 million in damages, claiming that through years of ‘hard work, professional judgement, and extensive knowledge regarding antiquities,’ it devised a plan under which the Getty could acquire a [private] collection of antiquities.” That plan was never executed.
New York’s New Second Avenue Subway Has Already Become A Culture Destination
“There are several contenders for coolest neighborhood in New York, but the Upper East Side is usually not one of them.”
The Secret Behind Multi-Tasking (Here’s The Only Way It Works)
“Making multitasking actually work is not a matter of expanding your working memory. It’s the reverse. In order to multitask effectively, you need to decrease the amount of working memory that a task requires. And that’s where habits come in.”
Claim: Brexit Is A Huge Gift To Hollywood
“For American producers, Christmas came early,” says Adrian Wootton, head of the British Film Commission and Film London, who says he has seen a “record number” of inquiries from the U.S. “Suddenly [shooting in the U.K.] became about 20 percent cheaper.”
Harvard’s ART Institute Suspends Admissions After Education Department Review
“In an announcement last week, the Education Department listed Harvard’s ART Institute among hundreds of college and university programs across the country that did not meet federal regulations governing the amount of debt students can accrue when measured against their expected earnings.”
The Museum Of Broken Relationships (Yes, It’s A Real Thing)
“On an otherwise quiet Sunday at the [L.A.] museum in early June, an Australian man is chuckling with two middle school-aged kids over a pair of fake breasts from Serbia that the donor says her ex-boyfriend required her to wear during sex. … Around the corner, in a corridor in which objects recall loved ones who died, fell ill, or were abusive, a couple is ranking objects by their level of misery.”