Luisi, music director of the Zurich Opera House and former principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, only took up the post (one created for him) at the Tuscan music festival-cum-opera house in April of last year. He’s leaving, one year into a five-year contract term, as a result of one of the political power struggles that seem to afflict Italian cultural institutions regularly. – Musical America
Tag: 07.17.19
Portland Opera General Director Steps Down
Christopher Mattaliano, who was hired as general director in 2003, will instead become an artistic consultant for the opera company, starting with the upcoming 2019-20 season. Effective immediately, Sue Dixon, Portland Opera’s current director of external affairs, will step in as interim general director. – Portland Mercury
Cultural Appropriation And The Erasing Of Culture
“There is no pride in using Indigenous peoples as props in a settler fantasy; there is no pride in racist caricatures; and there is no pride in cultural appropriation. Because my culture is not a costume. My culture is alive in the here and now. It is memory, flesh, and fire. It is the strength of all my relations.” – Hyperallergic
When An Ex-Undocumented-Immigrant Actor Plays A Guard Holding Refugee Children In A Border Jail
In George Brant’s solo play Tender Age, actor Carlo Albán (whose parents brought him from Ecuador to the U.S. as a child) plays a Latino Texan who takes a job as a guard in a Brownsville Walmart-turned-detention center for children who’ve fled Central America. Peter Marks travels to the O’Neill Theater Center to see the play in development. – The Washington Post
Orange County’s New Age Crystal Cathedral Becomes A Catholic Cathedral
Cost savings may have been a motivating factor for the purchase. As cathedrals go, the diocese picked it up for a song, just $57.5 million. Some see the deal as an act of architectural preservation, if not devotion. – Washington Post
‘Even Science Isn’t An Exact Science’: On The Art Of Science Journalism
Randi Hutter Epstein: “Nothing in science is 100 percent certain. Scientists talk in probabilities. That’s why doctors never say ‘guarantee.’ They say things like ‘chances are.’ … How do I convey discovery without sensationalizing? How do I convey the murkiness of the scientific process without killing my story?” – Literary Hub
Chimpanzees, Like Humans, Bond By Watching Movies Together
“A study of apes watching videos suggests human social bonding may have deeper evolutionary roots than previously thought. … Researchers said they found that the animals approached their partner faster, or spent more time in their company, [after watching a video together] than when they had attended to something different.” – Yahoo! (Press Association UK)
More Sexual Misconduct Accusations Against Opera Star David Daniels Emerge
A new court filing in the lawsuit by former student Andrew Lipian against the countertenor and the University of Michigan (where he is tenured faculty) “cites a handful of witnesses who spoke to the UM Office of Institutional Equity, tasked with investigating on-campus sexual misconduct, indicating they were aware of or had experienced sexually inappropriate conduct by Daniels.” – MLive (Michigan)
National Gallery Swaps Out Most Of The Objects In Its Major Summer Show
“Starting in April, it took 18 workers 25 days to install more than 250 priceless pieces in ‘The Life of Animals in Japanese Art,’ the National Gallery of Art’s summer exhibition that has delighted visitors and drawn critical raves. But two weeks ago, about halfway through its 11-week run, the museum gave much of it a makeover. On purpose.” – The Washington Post
Baltimore Symphony Management Releases Most Recent Audit, And It’s Even More Dire Than You Thought
“The audit, conducted by SC&H Group and dated July 15, … suggests that the arts group is in such grave financial straits that neither the legislated cash infusion from the state nor the reduced expense of a shortened season might be enough to save it.” – The Baltimore Sun