Time well wasted #29

My head is full of the End-of-season party. In fact, my ears are too because the soundcheck is taking place in the Foyer as I write. And in case you've never noticed, all the offices at the Philharmonie open onto the Foyer. I don't know why I bothered to close my window, it doesn't make any difference. It's like when you try to fool your stomach with a glass of water at 11:00, hoping it will make you forget that you're already hungry. In both cases, it's not unbearable (DJ QBert is good!), it just makes it harder for you to concentrate. So I better stop here before I write something that makes even less sense than usual.

*  Florence Robineau, pianist and teacher at Rungis Conservatory, posts her recordings of classical music pieces on YouTube and SouldCloud under the Creative Commons license, as an attempt to "free" music and make it accessible to everyone. Read the full story on Numerama.

* This one is really nothing new. In fact, it was written so long ago (2003... Did the internet even exist in 2003?) that I wouldn't call it "reading", rather "time-travelling". But its cheeky title (Why Americans Don’t Like Jazz) caught my eye and I thought it's aged gracefully. Some points are still valid today (and by "valid" I mean "open to debate"), although sentences like "The American culture is so visually dominant that a piece of music without visuals cannot command full attention of the audience. For Americans, music is a background element, a mere side dish to be served with the main course" are a bit radical and really should refer to Westerners in general. Don't you think?

* BBC Radio 3 published this video of the Sun Ra Arkestra plus special guest Shabaka Hutchings, celebrating the centenary year of the band's iconic leader.

* Elizabeth Freestone, Artistic Director of Pentabus Theatre, weighs in on whether live screenings of plays from London are killing regional theatre in England. A good read on Arts Professional about a growing habit in our way to "consume" culture.

That's it for this week! Enjoy the end-of-season party, don't fight over football results and have a nice weekend!

-- Julie