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    New symphony answers question: What does Akron sound like?

    Published May 13, 2015 by

    Today, the Akron Symphony is launching a year-long Sounds of Akron project, where it will be gathering recordings from the public to create a new symphony for the city. Here, composer Clint Needham writes about the project. I am so excited to be launching this incredible project, Sounds of Akron. With your help, I'll be creating a musical portrait of Akron using sounds that you submit and I convert into music. This is one of the first crowd-sourced symphonies in the U.S. We are so fortunate that it's happening right here in Akron! Here's how it works. Simply download the iOS app or Android app onto your phone, tablet or desktop. Then, use the app to record and submit your sounds. Any and all sounds are welcome. I plan to listen to each one, so keep me busy! The app is fun and easy to use, and best of all, it's free.
  • Article

    Join us for these upcoming Miami events

    Published May 13, 2015 by

    We have a terrific lineup of events set for this month in Miami that are supported by Knight Foundation. They include: •       May 13, 20, 27: Live Ninja holds #WaffleWednesday, its weekly tech and creatives morning meetup in Wynwood.  •       May 13: Accelerated Growth Partners hosts the fourth installment of their Angel Education Series, taught by Jaret Davis of Greenberg Traurig and Jason Stark of Private Advising Group. •       May 13: A talk by Michael Nygard on Simulation Testing will be held at The LAB Miami. •       May 14: TheAsian Pacific American Bar Association of South Florida presents: Legal Symposium for Startup Companies at The LAB Miami.
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    Living, breathing and playing John Cage

    Published May 12, 2015 by

    Christopher Riggs, New World Symphony Percussion Fellow, playing an amplified cactus for the John Cage celebration.  New World Symphony recently launched a video-based exploration of the work of composer John Cage, which grew from a 2013 celebration of his work. Below, percussionist Christopher Riggs, who performed at that event, writes about the experience. When I first heard that we would be performing a festival dedicated to the works of John Cage, it was both exciting and daunting.  I didn't know what to expect other than the fact that the percussion section would be very busy.  We even brought in two extra percussionists to help us with the workload.  I felt excited because it is incredibly rare that one (audience member or performer) gets to experience such a Cage-immersion.  Often times you might see a piece or two on a program, but rarely are there three programs with only the music of John Cage.  The result is a much more profound and deep experience, because you begin to look at Cage's music as it is, by itself, not in the context of other music or genres.  This unveils a side and character of Cage that I feel may often go overlooked in a mere passing of Cage's music.
  • Article

    Ave Maya, the death of the illusion

    Published May 12, 2015 by

    Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya, (Moscow, Nov. 20, 1925 – Munich, May 2, 2015) In Sanskrit, the word “maya” has many meanings. It is that which exists but changes constantly. It refers to the goddess of prosperity, power and love, of the material. It is the magic that seems but is not. It is palpable reality, the reflection of what we believe ourselves to be - in plain talk, illusion. Curiously and coincidentally, on Saturday a mythical creature died, one who transcended illusion, an illusion that in her case was doubly so because she also embodied it: Maya Plisetskaya. She was much more than a dancer, than an actress, than a musician. Just as we might say, “Where conductors are concerned, there’s Carlos Kleiber and the rest,” “Where sopranos are concerned, there’s Maria Callas and the rest,” and “Where pianists are concerned, there’s Martha Argerich and the rest,” where dancers are concerned, there’s simply Maya and the rest. As with Callas, nothing was lacking, nothing was superfluous. Hers was the perfect musical expression. She was an esthetic phenomenon. She was characterized by an indefinable, non-transferable quality that went beyond magnetism. She irradiated the link between heaven and earth. She was a tree with roots in the ground and branches reaching out to heaven.
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    Collaboration brings Brazilian Music Institute to South Florida

    Published May 12, 2015 by

    This week marks the first time in which the University of Florida School of Music’s Brazilian Music Institute (BMI) will be presented in South Florida. Founded and organized by Welson Tremura in 2001, BMI is a training ground for emerging Brazilian musicians and students. Previously held in Gainesville, Florida, this year’s event taking place through May 15, 2015 will be held at Broward College’s Bailey Hall as a result of a three-year award from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to bring BMI to Broward County. The University of Florida School of Music submitted one of 1,100 proposals in response to the 7th annual Knight Arts Challenge, which posed the question, “What’s your best idea for the arts?” The school’s proposal to bring BMI to Broward County, which has one of the one of the largest Brazilian communities in the U.S., was one of 47 ideas awarded a total of $2.29 million in December 2014 with the goal of bringing South Florida together through the arts.  
  • Article

    Tom Phardel seeks the “Inner Core” and preparations at Popps Packing for the Porous Borders Festival

    Published May 12, 2015 by

    The opening night scene at Popps Packing for Tom Phardel's "Inner Core." The art world is a great breeding ground for a cult of personality, but a less likely genesis for the kind of quiet, genuine regard most people seem to hold for sculptor and ceramic artist Tom Phardel. Popps Packing was buzzing with stalwarts of the old-guard Detroit art scene for his solo opening, "Inner Core," which featured a range of pieces as calm and quietly inviting as the artist himself. “I've always loved the man and his work,” says artist Michael McGillis. “He was there when I was in school and has remained as a grounded, nearly immutable presence since.” Phardel has cultivated quite the fan base during his tenure as Chair of Ceramics at the College for Creative Studies, but the work currently on display at Popps has its own appeal, regardless of context or shared personal history. Infinity loops abound, on walls, in concave vessels, or carved out to form a kiva-like opening in surfaces that suggest cracked and barren Mars landscapes. Figures seem to stand in the depressions of canoe-shaped totems leaning against the walls, one with Art Deco detailing in oxidized copper, the other as sleek and modern as a propeller blade.
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    Radiotopia expanding and evolving with new Knight support

    Published May 12, 2015 by

    Jake Shapiro is CEO of Public Radio Exchange (PRX), an online marketplace for public radio programming. Today Knight Foundation is announcing new support for PRX’s Radiotopia project, a collective of story-driven shows that set a Kickstarter record in 2014. Radiotopia has been a remarkable success since launching just over a year ago. The network has accelerated in a short time, now nearing 7.5 million monthly downloads across 11 shows, anchored by “99% Invisible,” the breakout show on design hosted and produced by Roman Mars. Today we are announcing $1 million in new support from Knight Foundation to help take the network to the next level of impact. Radiotopia has played a pivotal role at the epicenter of the newly expanding galaxy of podcasts. Our goal has been to create a new model for helping independent producers make their best work, reach audiences across new digital and mobile platforms, and generate sustainable revenue to reinvest in the shows and the network itself.
  • Article

    eMerge Americas 2015, the ‘place to be’

    Published May 11, 2015 by

    eMerge Americas 2015 (above). Photo by Michael Bolden.  eMerge Americas 2015 presented technology and business with a Miami flair last week. There was serious business transacted from Downtown Miami to the Miami Beach Convention Center May 1-5. There were discussions about eGovernment, including data security and governance in a new technological environment; the Women, Innovation and Technology summit, and also a startup competition with venture capital as prizes. But there was also star power with figures such as Miami’s own Pitbull (aka Armando Christian Pérez) and Miami Heat player Chris Bosh (a self-proclaimed “nerd” who served as a judge in the startup competition) as well as an extensive national TV network coverage, a fashion show and a hip-hop party.
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    ‘Romeo & Juliet,’ outside the box and under the stars

    Published May 11, 2015 by

    An image of the Romeo & Juliet performance on the YoungArts campus. Photo by Michael Bolden. As much a block party on a mild May evening in Miami as a reinterpretation of classic Shakespeare, the performance of “Romeo & Juliet Outside the Box” on the plaza of the YoungArts’ Biscayne Boulevard campus Friday delivered what its creators, playwright, actor and director Tarell Alvin McCraney and filmmaker Andrew Hevia had promised: an experience. Theater purists may scoff at the idea at their own peril.
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    Last chance to apply to Knight Arts Challenge St. Paul

    Published May 11, 2015 by

    2014 Knight Arts Challenge St. Paul winner Annanya Dance Theatre. The Knight Arts Challenge St. Paul deadline is approaching May 18, and we want to make sure you have all the info you need to apply in one place. Here goes: Application tips: Past challenge winners offered a range of tips on putting together a winning idea and application;
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    The Screening Room: moving the ground in video and poetry

    Published May 11, 2015 by

    Rona Yefman's "The Reading Room" video. Visual poetry is one of the newest genres in the art world. Combining text or voice with the moving image is on the frontier, just where Rhonda Mitrani wants her space, The Screening Room, to be. That’s why the first project after receiving a Knight Arts Challenge grant to expand the new media landscape in Miami is called “Poem: Videos.” It opened May 7. Curated by one of the most interesting video and performance artists to have emerged in Miami in recent years, Antonia Wright, “Poem” is a surreal and immersive experience – it would be a disservice to call it an exhibit in the traditional sense. Wright asked six local and national artists – most of whom are known for video, but not all – to make a piece based on one of her poems. The result is a group of six videos all running two minutes and 37 seconds, which is the time it took Wright to read her poem; narrative and abstract works that fill the gallery accompanied by Wright’s recorded audio.
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    Knight Prototype Fund winner builds a ‘news concierge’ for your pocket

    Published May 11, 2015 by

    “Being lazy is a sign of intelligence.” That’s what Marie-Catherine Beuth’s grandfather used to tell her. But take one look at what Beuth has accomplished and it’s clear she’s far from lazy. Beuth’s grandfather didn’t mean “lazy” in the literal sense. He was talking about efficiency: Aim for the best possible results with little time and effort. That mentality can be seen in the user experience of Beuth’s News on Demand app, a mobile news solution built around people’s busy schedules. Last year, Knight Foundation invested $35,000 to help Beuth prototype the app, which curates news based on a reader’s available time and attention. She developed the app with co-founder Benoit Hochedez who is the design lead. They also hired contractors for the technical development. “Even if you spend a very, very small amount of time on news, you can get a very basic awareness,” Beuth said. In this era when consumers are bombarded with countless media choices, Beuth believes it’s wrong for journalists to complain about readers not spending enough time consuming the news. Journalists’ role, she asserts, is to make the most out of the two or three minutes that a consumer might spend reading the news.
  • Article

    Seeing art in a steam plant’s plume

    Published May 8, 2015 by

    Video projection on a steam cloud. Four St. Paul artists are coming together to create public art with organizations that have a positive environmental impact. Their 2014 Knight Arts Challenge award winning Plume Project is made up of three distinctive components conceived of individually but created with shared resources, connections and equipment. And all area created for the canvas created by District Energy’s plume. The Plume Project started after a group of artists from the Saint Paul Collaboratory toured the District Energy steam plant. Andrea Steudel had the idea of working creatively with the plume in some sort of projected way. So she pulled together an Avengers-style crew of artists she knew might have different testable ideas. Steudel, Aaron Dysart, Emily Stover and Asia Ward got together over a campfire, and put on a pot of water so they could experiment with the steam. Slowly a multi-faceted, large-scale idea emerged.
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    Detroit’s Mosaic Youth Theatre takes center stage with musical ‘Tempest’

    Published May 7, 2015 by

    Oskar Eustis, Dr. Shirley Brice Health and Rick Sperling at a forum on how classical theatre can foster community cohesion. A windstorm. A canceled flight. A play rehearsal. Fate surely stepped in and delivered an amazing – indeed, a Shakespearean – opportunity for the Mosaic Youth Theatre in Detroit. That chain of events led to the theater company’s collaboration with the legendary Public Theater of New York and the upcoming musical adaptation of “The Tempest,” the Bard’s tragicomedy involving a duke, his daughter, a sprite and other assorted characters on an enchanted island.
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    2015 Online Journalism Awards: New awards for students, sports

    Published May 7, 2015 by

    Jim Brady, former ONA Board President, announcing the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting at ONA14. Joshua Hatch is the Online Journalism Awards Chair (OJA) and Online News Association (ONA) Board Vice President. This article is cross-posted with permission from ONA. We are excited to announce our 2015 Online Journalism Awards, with 37 categories and $60,000 in prize money. Building on 15 years of digital journalism excellence, this year we'll honor work in three new categories: Pro-Am Student journalism, Sports journalism and our previously announced James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting.