How ‘Hamilton’ Found Its Groove

“A lot of times in the past when you’ve seen hip-hop used in musical theatre, it has quotes around it. ‘How crazy! We’re making hip-hop musical theatre!’ We don’t comment on it. We just take as a given that it’s the best way to tell Hamilton’s story, but like any other musical score, Hamilton has his own themes that he uses. It’s Peter and the Wolf; it’s what Sondheim does. When you hear this music, you know Burr’s coming onstage; when you hear that music, you know King George is coming onstage.”

Reopening Your Musical Mind By Listening To Whatever The Kids Like

“I rediscovered my love for writing music. The young campers offered up creativity in its purest form. They were interested in making their own music without consideration for genre, marketability, or careerism, but rather with the intent of simply writing the music that they wanted to write. There was little angst associated with their writing process.”

What Happens When You Get An MFA In Your 60s

“Going back for this M.F.A. felt like a matter of life and death for me, the only means by which I could hope to survive to be the writer I wanted to be and to live long enough to enjoy my granddaughters. The truth is that I hadn’t expected to get into the program at Columbia; when I did, I hadn’t expected to get financial assistance; when I did, I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously.”

Want To Exercise Better? Listen To Music (Duh!) (But Here’s The Science)

Computer scientist Shahriar Nirjon, working with a team at the University of Virginia, found that the tempo of songs played a role in producing a certain heart rate in study participants. They found that people who listened to calming music reported lower anxiety and heart rate; similarly, they could increase a person’s heart rate by playing songs at a faster tempo, he said.