In this “United States of Anxiety” podcast, Sara Fishko talks with composer John Corigliano about how Copland developed a popular style that came to represent Americana in the popular mind and even got tied up with politics – and what happened to that style (and Copland) when the age of the Red Scare arrived.
Tag: 05.23.17
An Arts Administrator Questions The Adoption Of Activist Language In The Arts
“These were folks doing really impressive work to address racism in the arts and outside of the arts. But a discomfort crept up for me in that discussion that has been a bit of gadfly in my life for some time now. In talking about my own work as an arts administrator, I was borrowing the language of activism. I also have noticed others in the field — artists, curators, administrators, philanthropic organizations — do the same thing. How might the use of activist rhetoric be a bit…complicated?”
Wendy Whelan Remembers The First Time She Danced Balanchine – It Was The Day He Died
“I went silent with shock [on hearing the news]. I have never been the type of person to burst into tears or visibly show my emotions, and my immediate thought was that I didn’t have the right to feel emotional about this. I had just arrived on the scene and had no real history with the man, or his work for that matter.”
The Hero Librarians Of North Philadelphia
Columnist Mike Newall: “I visited the century-old library that sits atop Needle Park in Kensington because I’d heard its staff was the first in the city to learn how to administer the lifesaving overdose antidote Narcan.”
A Protest Ballet By Cole Porter (?!) Gets A Revival
“The production, called Within the Quota, criticized restrictive immigration laws that had been passed by Congress [in the 1920s]. … Now, to protest President Trump’s anti-immigrant stance, the Princeton University Ballet is reviving the production.” (includes audio)
Cincinnati World Piano Competition Shuts Down After 60 Years
“The chief reason was financial, said Jack Rouse, chairman of the board. Despite generous donors in recent years, the competition was unable to raise the $300,000 needed to continue to exist.”
Broadway Box Office Take Sets Another Record (Thanks To Insane Ticket Prices)
“Box-office grosses, which have been climbing since 2013, rose 5.5 percent, to $1.449 billion, a new high, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Broadway League … There are bargains available for all but the buzziest shows, but still: The average price paid for a Broadway ticket during the 2016-17 season was a record $109, up from $103 the previous season.”
Amazon’s New Book Charts Measures What’s Read Rather Than What’s Bought
Amazon Charts might open up a whole new set of bestsellers based on books actually read rather than books bought as coffee-table status symbols. But will this carry more weight with the publishing industry – and readers – than the venerable New York Times bestseller tag, which has been the go-to example of bragging rights since 1931?
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.23.17
Doomsday Scenario: President Trump’s Bludgeoned Budgets for NEA, NEH, IMLS
William “Bro” Adams, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and an Obama appointee, clearly knew what was coming when he precipitously resigned his position yesterday, effective today. Short notice, Bro! … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-05-23
The hole story
Georg Büchner died in 1837 with his masterpiece unfinished – a masterpiece because it’s unfinished, perhaps. The text of Woyzeck is incomplete, the scenes disordered. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-05-23
Helping Them Get Started
A friend of mine in grad school, a cellist, was close to graduation when his teacher suddenly died. “What am I going to do?” he asked me. “There is nobody to help me get started in my career!” … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-05-22
Never such innocence again
We huddled from the rain under a small platform shelter at Hackney Wick the other night. Which was great, because it meant eavesdropping without strain on the couple arguing about This Beautiful Future, the play we had just seen at the Yard Theatre. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-05-22
How The Royal Academy Came This Close To Selling Off Its Prized Michelangelo
In December 1978 the academy’s secretary, Sidney Hutchison, wrote to Drummonds Bank (with which it had a £675,000 overdraft): “Very confidentially, if this official attempt for subsidy from the Government through the Arts Council should fail, my view is that the Academy would then have no alternative but to sell the Michelangelo Tondo for its worldwide market price, ie in the region of £6,000,000.”