Tag: 09.21.20

Things Seem Genuinely Hopeful At Baltimore Symphony For First Time In Years

Only a year ago, musicians and management were just ending a very bitter lockdown-turned-strike, and unflattering details of the orchestra’s severe money troubles had been splashed across the media. Now, despite the pandemic, there’s a new five-year contract in place and a spirit of cooperation. “It’s an astonishing reversal of fortune,” says the co-chairman of the players’ committee; “We’re working together in ways we haven’t in many, many years,” says the CEO. – Baltimore Magazine

Fort Worth Opera Names New General Director, Its Third In Four Years

Afton Battle, a native Texan with degrees in voice from the University of Houston and Westminster Choir College, “previously worked in development and consulting for the Joffrey Ballet, New York Theatre Workshop, Red Clay Dance Company, the National Black Theatre, and the African American Policy Forum. [She] is also one of the founders of the recently announced Black Theatre Coalition, [which] has a mission to increase employment opportunities for black theater professionals and eliminate systemic racism in American theater. Battle’s commitment to diversity informs her plans for FWO.” – Fort Worth Star-Telegram

‘The Translator Is A Writer, The Writer Is A Translator.’ Oh, Really?

“How many times have I run up against these assertions? — in a chat between translators protesting because they are not listed in a publisher’s index of authors; or in the work of literary theorists, even poets. … In recent months, I have been dividing my working day between writing in the morning and translating in the afternoon. Maybe comparing the two activities would be a good way to test this writer–translator equation.” For Tim Parks, at least, they’re not at all the same. – The New York Review of Books

How We Perceive Time May Be Related To How Wealthy We Are

“Research already suggests that, on average, wealthy people live longer ,biologically. Now, emerging work hints that varied and novel experiences could create more “time codes” in the human brain as it processes memory formation. This, in turn, could mean that people who can afford to enjoy more vacations and hobbies, and who have more stimulating jobs, will recall having lived for a longer time on Earth.” – National Geographic

The Thousand-Year Performance Turns 20

“Harnessing the pure sound of Tibetan singing bowls, this new composition was programmed to run for 1,000 years without ever repeating itself. Two decades on, Jem Finer chuckles at his own presumption. When he was devising the project in the late 90s, he says, he hadn’t understood the real challenge, which was that such a long-term project is only as good as the structures devised to look after it, keeping it relevant to a fast-changing world and up to date with a technological revolution that has swept us from the infancy of the internet to the hyper-connected world in which we now live.” – The Guardian

Musical Theatre Competition Criticized For All-White Semifinals; Organizers Cancel It, Candidates Allege Gaslighting

The Rob Guest Endowment is Australia’s most prestigious musical theatre prize, offering $50,000 (Aus) offers in scholarship money for professional development. In August, a field of 30 semifinalists was announced, and an outcry arose — supported by the candidates themselves — because none of the 30 were BIPOC. Now the Endowment, claiming concern for the semifinalists’ mental health because some have been “targeted and intimidated,” has suspended the award until 2022; the competitors themselves say that they had been about to withdraw en masse. – Limelight (Australia)

Lessons For The Arts From The NBA’s “Bubble” Season

The achievements of the enterprise became evident as the playoff games got underway. The bubble games blended theatre and sports to create a hybrid performance space that offered a great “live” experience while protecting performers and audiences. Curtains and video screens masked empty seats in the auditorium. Digital logos and ads, lighting effects on the court, and amplified soundtracks with music, sound effects, and fan noises mimicked the feel of live games both for the players and for those watching at home. – Ludwig Van