How “full-on” is a “live experience” that requires the deployment of what has been described as “a military-grade laser” to create the illusion that a performer who died in 1988 is walking the stage again? And doesn’t a “hologram tour” by a dead rock ’n’ roller run completely counter to the point of live music in the first place?
Tag: 10.31.18
Syson Siphoned: Met’s Departing Department Chair to Direct Fitzwilliam; 2 Future Stars Emerge
Luke Syson, who in 2012 came to the Metropolitan Museum from the National Gallery, London, becoming the Met’s chairman of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts in 2014, is now poised to join the wave of high-level departures from our country’s preeminent museum.
Catching Up, As Always: Recent Listening In Brief
Randy Waldman, Superheroes (BFM Jazz)
Kate McGarry, The Subject Tonight Is Love (Binxtown Records)
India Inaugurates World’s Tallest Statue (And Of Course There’s Controversy)
The Statue of Unity, located in prime minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, depicts Indian independence leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; it’s twice the height of the State of Liberty and cost about $400 million. There are critics objecting to the cost, to the appropriation of farmland for the site, and to Chinese bronze and workers being used for the structure — not to mention the accusations that Modi is trying to appropriate Patel’s stature for himself and his party.
Last Hong Kong Bookshop Selling Books Banned In China Closes
“Human rights activists and publishers have raised grave concerns over the closure of the People’s Bookstore, a tiny shop in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay district, known to be the last source of literary contraband in the city … The closure follows the disappearance and detention of five city booksellers in 2015, who were linked to the Mighty Current publishing house that produced critical books about China’s leadership.”
Funding Engagement
I get questions on this topic frequently and always have to gird myself before responding. So here is what I try to bear in mind in answering the questions.