Theaster Gates Bought This Bank For $1 And Turned It Into Something Remarkable

“This is a new kind of cultural amenity, a new kind of institution—a hybrid gallery, media archive and library, and community center. It is an institution of and for the South Side—a repository for African American culture and history, a laboratory for the next generation of black artists and culture-interested people; a platform to showcase future leaders—be they painters, educators, scholars, or curators.”

A New Chamber Music Competition With A $100,000 Prize

“Starting in May 2016, the M-Prize, as the competition will be called, will be the most lucrative chamber music competition in the field. Prizes will be awarded in junior and senior divisions in three categories devoted to traditional string and wind ensembles, and, in an unusual twist, an ‘open’ category to accommodate groups of mixed instrumentation or those employing technology, voice or improvisation.”

We’ve Just Learned A *Lot* More About ‘Swan Lake’

“The 1877 original was staged in Moscow, and was by no means the fiasco that used to be supposed. After its Moscow premiere, it was revived there for six of the first seven years of its existence. Recent discoveries … at the old Bolshoi building there, give us a new wealth of detail about it.” For example, the “Black Swan pas de deux” was not intended for either Odette or Odile, and the storm scene is supposed to have a real whirlpool.