Arts Council England Plans To Include “Relevance” In Funding Criteria

“Most of us already lead creative and cultural lives: we join book clubs, we take craft classes, we stream music,” the strategy document says. “The task for the Arts Council is to enable more people to take advantage of more opportunities to develop and express their creativity, and to support them to engage with the widest possible range of culture.” – Arts Professional

What Makes A Successful Theatre Artistic Director? Voices, Courage…

Joseph Haj: “When I see artistic directors who have a five-show season directing three of the shows, I think: nobody’s that interesting, nobody. I don’t care how beautiful and thrilling a maker you are, your community deserves and wants a variety of aesthetics and voices and approaches. I don’t want a season that looks too much like me.” – HowlRound

Thinking About Music As Not Just The Notes But The Cultural History In The Performance

Jeremy Dutcher incorporates in his live and recorded music an unusual and affecting act of legacy, playing transcribed wax recordings from 1911 by an early anthropologist of a tribal elder singing and speaking, and following the melodies with his own heldentenor voice and mellifluous keyboard compositions.  – San Francisco Classical Voice

Beta Blockers (And How I Became Utterly Hooked On Them)

Shannon Paulus discovered them in college and found them a sort of miracle cure for pre-performance anxiety, just as so many performers have. Then she learned the hard way about the dangers of dependence on them. She recounts how she got herself hooked and unhooked — and looks into a company that’s making it way too easy to get a prescription for them online. – Slate

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Cinema Is Not An Oxymoron. It’s A Real Genre

“Haredim – a Hebrew word meaning ‘those who tremble at the word of God’ that encompasses a multiplicity of ultra-Orthodox Jewish sects – tend to isolate themselves from secular society, which they see as a threat to their traditional way of life. They generally appear to shun film and television, so it is a surprise to discover that many have been making films with considerable zeal, viewed by both religious and secular audiences, for some time.” – The Guardian