Mr. Perlman has been so ubiquitous that it is easy to take for granted his status as “the reigning virtuoso of the violin,” as his marketing materials put it. But with his 75th birthday arriving on Aug. 31, this may be a moment to reassess how that reign began and what has happened to the realm and all the superlatives. – The New York Times
Tag: 08.26.20
New Series: Audiences During the Pandemic
My goal as guest editor of Lynne Conner’s blog for the next six months is to share and respond to what I’m seeing happening during this crisis through the lens of the audience. Every day there are new ideas, plans, calls to action, reasons to despair and reasons to celebrate. In this space I will be sharing and responding to what I’m seeing – and I ask you to share and respond as well. – Hannah Grannemann
Yoko’s Joke: Signs of the Times for the Metropolitan Museum’s Impending Reopening
Either Max Hollein and Daniel Weiss, the director and president of the Metropolitan Museum, were knowing participants in Yoko Ono’s mischievous potshot at their august institution, or they fell for her prank. – Lee Rosenbaum
Why It’s Hard To Determine Happiness
If we cured all the world’s cancers, made the perfect smartphone and achieved the ideal form of representative government, but everyone was just as miserable after as they were before, then — did any of it matter? I think it is at least plausible that happiness, in some nebulous and hard-to-define but nonetheless real sense, is the most important thing in the universe. – Unherd
Is New York City Mayor’s Push To Diversify Arts Institutions Working? There’s No Way To Know For Sure
“Under the plan, Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to hold august institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Carnegie Hall accountable for hiring more members of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups and for making their boards of directors and other leadership ranks more inclusive. … But the Department of Cultural Affairs did not set numerical goals for what constituted progress, nor did it require that institutions provide baseline demographic statistics about their staffs.” – The New York Times
Afghanistan’s Most Famous Actress, And First Female Filmmaker, Shot In Kabul
Saba Sahar, who is a senior police officer and an activist as well as a performer and producer/director, was shot in her car or her way to work. She was comatose for 20 hours but is now out of danger, said her husband. The Taliban has denied responsibility. – CBS News
Support For The Arts, And For Public Funding, In Australia Hits New High: Study
“The top-level statistics are impressive: few other industries can boast sustained engagement with 98% of the population. The survey shows a significant rise in both the number of Australians who believe in the positive impacts of the arts, and the number who support it being publicly funded.” – The Guardian