FEATURE
Detroit Opera Steps Into Trump’s Cross Hairs With ‘Central Park Five’
The New York Times: Robin Pogrebin
The Pulitzer Prize-winning opera features Donald J. Trump, whose 1989 full-page newspaper ad sought to demonize the young men wrongly accused of rape.
RESEARCH AND OPINION
A Pianist and a Law Professor Meet at the Bar …
NY Times: Jonathan Biss and Christopher Serkin
Comparing notes: how to interpret the US constitution through a discussion between a world-renowned pianist (who grew up in Bloomington and studied at the Jacobs School of Music!) and constitutional lawyer.
Our Dad, Leonard Bernstein, Would Want His Music Played at the Kennedy Center
NY Times: Nina Bernstein Simmons, Alexander Bernstein and Jamie Bernstein
The Kennedy Center was created to gather and uplift all Americans, and all of America’s visitors. Our father felt exactly the same way about making music; he strove to embrace and unite humanity through the works he wrote and performed.
Christopher Wheeldon On Pushing Story Ballets Beyond The Old Tropes
The Telegraph: Claire Allfree
Ballet doesn’t have to be ‘boy meets girl, girl goes crazy, girl dies, becomes a fairy, boy chases her through the woods’. Audiences want to be taken somewhere a bit deeper.
To Gustavo Dudamel, an Orchestra ‘Must Be a Part of the Soul of the Community’
Playbill: Monica Parks
Playbill asked the busy maestro a few questions on his upcoming New York concerts, the season ahead, and the city that will become his musical home in 2026, when he fully arrives as Music and Artistic Director.
The Conductor Who Has the Ear of Red Sox and Classical Fans Alike
NY Times: David Allen
Keith Lockhart, who leads the Boston Pops, is a beloved figure in his city’s musical scene, and 30 years in he still has more to give.
Neuroscientist and Dancer Dr. Julia F. Christensen on Dancing Into the Flow State
Dance Magazine
Learning to express through an art is a little like learning a new language. As we learn the steps of a dance, we first learn the words—the steps and positions—then we learn the grammar—the rules of when to do what move, and how to combine arms and legs—and finally, using imagery, we create sentences and poetry—we express complicated feelings through our movements.
At 50, the Takacs Quartet Remains as Essential as Ever
The New York Times: David Allen
With only one of its original members in the group, this ensemble is still identifiably itself, and still going strong.
By deifying Alice Coltrane, we’re missing out on the actual idiosyncratic person she was
LA Times: Harmony Holiday
The sensuality of Alice’s compositions is an imposition on those who were seduced into loving Miles’ impervious cool or Art Blakey’s hard bop sound. And yet when people need a portal into or proxy for spiritual awakening, Alice Coltrane’s music often becomes integral, a newfound household name, because her staggered textures are gracious enough to accommodate both the ascetic and the philistine.
NATIONAL
Trump Seeks to Eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts
NY Times: Michael Paulson
The president’s budget proposal also called for getting rid of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The National Endowment for the Arts Begins Terminating Grants
NY Times: Michael Paulson
The endowment told arts organizations that it was withdrawing or canceling current grants just hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency in the next fiscal year.
Mellon Foundation Announces $15 Million for Humanities Councils
The New York Times: Jennifer Schuessler
The emergency funding came after the National Endowment for the Humanities canceled most existing grants, part of a pivot toward President Trump’s priorities.
SW Florida Symphony musicians blame ‘failed leadership’ for orchestra’s demise
Fort Myers News-Press: Charles Runnells
Southwest Florida Symphony leaders announced plans this week to shut down the orchestra after 64 years in Fort Myers. The reasons, they said, include rising venue costs and dwindling interest in classical music. Now the symphony’s musicians have come out with their side of the story.
Orphaned University Of The Arts Dance Program Is Coming Back To Philly, But Not Yet
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Peter Dobrin
The former UArts undergraduate dance program, that landed at Bennington College in Vermont, had planned to return to Philadelphia for the 2025-26 school year. But leaders now say the return has been delayed as the program awaits Pennsylvania Dept. of Education’s authorization to award degrees.
Is Austin’s New Arts Umbrella Organization Just in Time or Too Little, Too Late?
The Austin Chronicle: Richard Whittaker
After two decades of treating culture and creativity as an afterthought, the city of Austin finally has a real arts department.
San Francisco Symphony launches public fight with musicians over contract
San Francisco Chronicle: Aidin Vaziri, Tony Bravo
Tensions peaked in labor negotiations at the San Francisco Symphony this week, prompting the institution’s leadership to issue an open letter to patrons, calling out the musicians union for failing to acknowledge the financial pressures threatening the institution’s future.
Joel Krosnick, Longtime Juilliard String Quartet Cellist, Dies at 84
The New York Times: Adam Nossiter
Widely admired for his intense and precise playing, Mr. Krosnick stayed with the quartet for over 40 years, longer than either of his cellist predecessors.
INTERNATIONAL
Violinist Esther Abrami uncovers ‘hidden treasure’ of music by women
NPR: Olivia Hampton
The first time Esther Abrami saw a violin, she was just 3 years old. Little did she know at the time, it would be the start of a lifelong love affair.
Kneecap Faces Intensified Investigations from British Counter-Terrorism Police
Digital Music News: Ashley King
The Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit is now actively investigating Irish rap group Kneecap’s online videos. The investigation comes after videos surfaced of the group saying “kill Tory MPs.” The group also expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah, which are proscribed terrorist organizations in the United Kingdom.
With a Different Ending, ‘Don Giovanni’ Becomes a Requiem
The New York Times: Ben Miller
In Berlin, the director Kirill Serebrennikov’s new production dispenses with the opera’s final sextet and leads directly into Mozart’s Requiem.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MUSIC BUSINESS
Judge on Meta’s AI training: “I just don’t understand how that can be fair use”
ArsTechnica: Ashley Belanger
A judge who may be the first to rule on whether AI training data is fair use appeared skeptical Thursday at a hearing where Meta faced off with book authors over the social media company’s alleged copyright infringement.
Singer-Songwriter Jill Sobule, Best Known for 1995 Hit “I Kissed a Girl,” Dies in House Fire
Digital Music News: Ashley King
Jill Sobule, whose 1995 song “I Kissed a Girl” is widely known as the first openly gay track to hit the Billboard Top 20, has died in a house fire. She was 66.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
The Metropolitan Opera Brings Salome a New Head: “No one in their right mind would ever do this.”
Vulture: Jason P. Frank
In Richard Strauss’s opera Salome, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play retelling the biblical gospel, Princess Salome falls in love with Jochanaan, and then demands his severed head from her lecherous stepfather, King Herod. When Salome calls for Jochanaan’s head, the Metropolitan Opera can really give it to her.
Ronan the Sea Lion Is Probably Better Than You at Keeping a Beat
The New York Times: Gennaro Tomma
Scientists earlier showed that Ronan, a resident of the Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was the first nonhuman mammal who could be trained to keep a beat, including moving in time with music. That was in 2013 when Ronan was young.
Leave a Reply