Between our work writing about the performing arts and the insane popularity of the Broadway smash Hamilton this season, it seems only appropriate to quote Alexander Hamilton on this Independence Day. Here, he’s writing in the Federalist Papers, in 1787, …
Perhaps you saw the recent article in The New York Times under the provocative headline “Have We Been Playing Gershwin Wrong for 70 Years?” It’s about his beloved An American In Paris, a symphonic tone poem that features the distinctive …
When I was diagnosed with cancer eight years ago, here’s how I described getting the news: This, by the way, is how you find out: You make an appointment at a prestigious teaching hospital in a major East Coast city. …
Being an artist is about “collaborating, and listening, and building things together,” says Vijay Iyer, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s performing artist-in-residence. “I think of myself as a professional listener. Even as a musician, I think of what I do …
Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring… –Truman Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s
While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free. Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer: God bless …
Happy Birthday to Irving Berlin, born on May 11, 1888. The “nation’s songwriter” was 101 when he died in 1989, having written some 1,500 songs. “Cheek to Cheek,” “God Bless America,” “How Deep is the Ocean,” “White Christmas,” “Sisters,” “Easter …
Just in time for Easter, we had the privilege of hearing—and seeing—the Philadelphia Orchestra’s powerful and moving version of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. The semi-staged work for double orchestra and choir was conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin with stage …
It’s hard to believe it was less than a year ago that we posted a 60 Minutes piece called “Joy in the Congo”–produced by our friend Clem Taylor, who died last spring. In a rebroadcast of the Peabody Award-winning story, …
Asked recently to share a favorite piece of advice about writing, this was my pick, from Annie Dillard: One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right …