Opera – In With The New

Surprisingly, there is clear evidence that the operatic repertory is expanding, as major opera companies seek to appeal to a wide audience with a variety of tastes. Premieres will always be partly about prestige, but they are also part of a diversity strategy that is particularly obvious in companies that give a large number of performances.

Seattle Symphony To Have Four Concertmasters

“Although no other U.S. orchestras employ more than one concertmaster, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra announced Thursday that it has hired four for its new season, starting Sept. 24. … ‘There’s no such thing as four (concertmasters) at one symphony in the U.S. or even two,’ said Gerard Schwarz, SSO music director. ‘In Europe, it’s the opposite.'”

Longtime Director Of Seattle’s Asian Museum To Retire

“Ron Chew, a self-taught curator who turned a rundown museum into a nationally acclaimed institution for Asian history and culture, will retire at the end of the year. With the Wing Luke Asian Museum scheduled to complete its $23 million capital campaign and relocate into a historic, three-story building in the Chinatown-International District by early next year, executive director Chew said he has achieved all his goals.”

Why Elvis’s Dancing Still Captivates

“The inherent eroticism of dance — with all its sweaty bodies in any sort of motion — can shift from discreet to overt with even the subtlest of movements. But there was nothing subtle about Elvis Presley, whose death, 30 years ago today, has been widely commemorated this week. Those loose, jutting hips gave America in the mid-1950s enough eroticism via dance to stop and stare.”