Is Frivolity Always Frivolous?
After the most gruesome, tough assignments...I went shopping.
Dispatches
Need a Little Sprezzatura….
What passes for nonchalance is often cruelty, perpetrated by the few who can still afford—and wield enough power—to live easily themselves. But sprezzatura! There is a grace to it, and a calm confidence.
Miniature Compositions at an Exhibition
The Unheard-of Ensemble has been taking this collaborative show on the road every summer, from city to city, from year to year, but they had so much fun in St. Louis, were so heartily welcomed by our creative community, and so ably hosted by Stark and Washington University’s Department of Music that they might be back—maybe even to stay. Let us hope so.
How Women, Men, and Barack Obama See Colors
Artist Spencer Finch tiled the colors of Barack Obama’s life. Women will see them better than most men can.
Why Force a Hug?
We need to stop forcing touch—without stopping to touch each other.
New Music for the End Time
The Collaborative Composition Initiative concluded its week in St. Louis with two sets of premieres: nine new pieces performed by the Unheard-of Ensemble at Dissonant Works on South Jefferson Friday night and nine miniatures inspired by works at the Kemper Art Museum performed by
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Maybe Consciousness Is Not That Hard
Remember Abraham Maslow’s pyramid, a hierarchy of human needs that put the basics of survival at the wide bottom, then slanted up to intellectual creativity and spirituality? We wanted to locate consciousness up there at the peak. Antonio Damasio finds it at the foundation.
Is Charm Offensive?
Is charm a form of social glue or sociopathy?
Recipe Stories: Monkey Meat
Bargoers said aloud by rote, cynically but accurately, “That ain’t no Jimmy Dean,” because whatever the meat was, it was not pork sausage. Everybody called it monkey meat, or mystery meat, which did not diminish patrons’ appetites and in fact sold more skewers due to its mystery.
Brooklyn Band Starts Classical Music Season Early with Collaborative Composition Initiative
This classical music off-season, St. Louis is hosting something of a classical music talent combine for new composers and the creative musicians who perform their work. Let us call the Collaborative Composition Initiative a summery Spring Training for the classical music season to come.