Tag: 04.17.19

Pianist Jörg Demus Dead At 90

While he tended to keep his performing career fairly close to home (especially in his later years), Demus became widely known through his more than 100 recordings. He’s especially remembered for his ahead-of-his-time interest in historic pianos and his work in chamber music, particularly with such great singers as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. (in German; Google Translate version here) – Der Standard (Austria)

La Jolla Playhouse And Goodman Theatre Co-Commission Plays By And For Artists With Disabilities

“National Disability Theatre has announced a partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and Goodman Theatre to commission two new works written, directed, and designed by artists with disabilities for casts featuring only actors with disabilities. The selected playwrights are Gregg Mozgala … and Christopher Shinn.” – American Theatre

Katy Waldman Was Reviewing A Novel. Then She Found Herself In It. And On It Goes From There.

Well, she’s pretty sure she found herself — more specifically, an essay she wrote about herself and her twin sister — but the novel’s author differs. And the author of another book claims she found more of it in Waldman’s essay than Waldman credited her for. (Waldman differs, as does her editor, who was her twin sister.) Waldman digs into all this here, in a very meta essay. – The New Yorker

Essential Reading: Forty Years Ago George Trow Wrote That TV Had Killed Intellectual Life. Now To Social Media…

Trow argued that the rise of television decimated the elite American intellectual community to which he had belonged as the far descendant of printing magnates, a Harvard graduate, and a magazine writer. It cut out what he posed as society’s heart: the reading, debating, literary demographic that consumed his work. – The Nation

Are Trigger Warnings At Theatres Useful Context Or…

As part of his PhD research on theatre spectatorship at the University of Toronto, Scott Mealey interviews many audience members and says he’s “shocked” by the level of anxiety many of them “seem to feel as they encounter theatre, especially if it seems unfamiliar in some way. The more I talk about it the more stories people offer me.” – Toronto Star

Alexa! Play HAPPY Music! (And Why That’s A Challenge)

Using your smart speaker to play music is the top use for them. But making music choices useful has been a challenge. “Using voice to sift through and access music may be a relatively new idea, but it’s brought with it an immense technological challenge that streaming companies, record labels and machine-learning start-ups are all reckoning with. Proper use of this new interface and underlying metadata can mean the difference between sinking and staying afloat on the smart speaker medium.” – BBC