Tag: 12.25.20

An Argument For “Canceling” Beethoven?

“He was the most performed composer in America in 2019-20, with over double the number of performances of Mozart (the second most performed). Being a guaranteed ticket-seller and donor pleaser, he keeps reappearing in concert programmes to the exclusion of other, more diverse composers. In the neo-liberal world, where audiences prefer the familiar, such attitudes to programming are unlikely to change unless there is a mass cultural boycott (i.e. ‘cancelling’) of composers like Beethoven.” – Varsity

An L.A. Couple Rallies To Save Indie Bookstores And Other Small Businesses

Inspired by stories about the woes of local indie bookstores, the couple at the head of a skin-care company (this is Los Angeles, after all) decided to do what they could to aid small businesses, including indie bookstores, in the area. “The thing I’m fearful the most of after this is, when we lift our heads and look around our communities and neighborhoods, I think we’re going to see a lot missing, and we have to rebuild our main streets in our neighborhoods because otherwise we just don’t have a point of connection.” – Los Angeles Times

Can Asia Save The Modernist Masterpieces Of Its Many Cities?

The campaigns to save the Hong Kong post office and Modernist buildings in Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan are about more than the structures. “Many of the structures were municipal buildings that served as downtown hubs of civic life. The campaigns, in a sense, are an attempt to preserve the collective memories stored inside.” – The New York Times

Jamie Foxx Is The Voice Of Pixar’s First Black-Led Film

But Pixar did a lot more, Foxx says, than just hire a Black man to be the lead character. “The filmmakers enlisted a host of A-list cultural, music and faith consultants — including Ryan Coogler, Kenya Barris, Quincy Jones and Yo-Yo Ma — to lend their expertise and perspective to the film’s story, in addition to the artisans who worked on the film directly, like Jon Batiste (who composed original music for the film) or Daveed Diggs and Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson (who voiced characters Paul and Curley in the film, while also consulting on the story).” – Variety

The Look Of The Sounds Of Jazz

When animators were trying to illustrate the sounds of the new Pixar film Soul, they needed some non-traditional ideas, like … watch a jazz pianist play. “Along with video, they were able to digitally save the notes that were being played. That digital stream could be reverse-programmed into the animation in a way that worked almost like a player piano signaling to the animators which key was being played with each note. So when you see Joe at the piano, he’s playing exactly the notes you’re hearing.” – The New York Times