#mason-bates

#mason-bates

"Most dance studio education in the U.S. still starts with ballet and works towards recitals. But historically, hundreds of distinct dance traditions emerged from cultures around the world long before ballet became the norm in European courts."

Thomas's tenure at the Boston Symphony Orchestra was marked by an unusual number of concerts conducted due to the health issues of music director William Steinberg, showcasing his early talent and adaptability.

Galen Buckwalter, a 69-year-old research psychologist and quadriplegic, participated in a brain implant study to contribute to science that aids those with paralysis. The six chips in his brain decode movement intention, allowing him to operate a computer and feel sensations in his fingers again.

All but one of the song titles on Body Sound, the debut album from experimental string trio Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart, line up nicely-a few words, usually two, usually nouns, separated by a vertical line. The straight line in the middle means different things in different disciplines. In computing, it's called a 'pipe' and serves as a conduit. In poetry, it denotes a pause or break. In music, it marks the beginning and end of measures.

Fast forward a few decades and John Wilson is still hand-picking musicians and still serving up performances so polished they leave critics scrabbling for superlatives. These days Wilson's main outfit is the Sinfonia of London, and he is as likely to be conducting the symphonic mainstream as showtunes.

By the early 1900s, player pianos had evolved to more fully reproduce a human performance, including subtle dynamics like tempo changes and the introduction of a damper pedal. The human role went from deskilled to fully deprecated as electric motors replaced foot-powered bellows. With the Seeburg Lilliputian Model L, the only job left for humans who wanted to play the piano in the 1920s was to put in a coin.

Built in 2000, the two-story house on a corner lot has plenty of curb appeal. A black-hued gable roof creates visual contrast against crisp white siding and shutters. A white picket fence wraps around the front of the property.

In a dimly lit, dusty church basement, eight people meet and place their cellphones into a wooden box. Each member of the octet struggles with a dependency upon the very tool that enables us all to enjoy a level of historically unprecedented convenience - the internet. Like the characters, audiences are called to unplug and immerse themselves in the world of Studio Theatre's production of Dave Malloy's unique a capella musical, Octet.

It was my first attempt at a story ballet, and I was over the moon. I would have somehow made it work with 10 or with 100 dancers. And so, in 1996, Wheeldon started crafting a ballet based on William Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Bomsori Kim is a 36-year-old, South Korean, classical violinist who plays from the soul. In Bomsori's hands, she takes people on a journey to the music of another century.

Devo was always about humans being the one species out of touch with nature and the planet. I think you get a good representation of that idea without being shouted at in 'Hoppers,' which presents an exciting action tale about animals trying to protect their habitat from an unscrupulous developer while conveying important messages about ecological balance.

It's typical for the Joffrey Ballet to seat a mixed-repertory concert near the beginning of the year. But the 2026 edition of such an evening (a series of loosely connected shorter works packaged together), breaks at least one habit. There's nothing new in "American Icons," running two weekends at the Lyric Opera House. Instead, the Joffrey has dug up a range of works showcasing mid-20th century innovation and the porous kinship between ballet and modern dance during that time.

Any composer's relationship to music is intense, but Sarah Kirkland Snider, whose debut opera, Hildegard, receives its world premiere at the LA Opera this week, ratchets that intensity up to a higher, more metaphysical level. When Snider hears music, she says, she sometimes wants to eat it that's how deep the desire goes. She's not traditionally religious, but she has come to see music as a mysterious, divine force within her.

People all saw that there is something new is being attempted here that you've just got to see. I think that is its own reward. In an era where New York's storied Met Opera has faced layoffs, pay cuts, postponed productions, and a controversial financial agreement with Saudi Arabia, forward-thinking artistic direction becomes essential for survival.