Clippings

Old Vs New

Ms. Lisitsa’s eureka moment came when reading a child’s version of “1,001 Nights” to her son, Benjamin, now 8. “There were all those beautiful women, like another blonde Russian pianist,” she said. “They all got killed after the first night. This one did not. Why not? She came with a story. You have to invent your story. You can call it gimmicky, but whatever works. Something that stops making you a commodity.”

From Concerto for Piano and YouTube, in which Valentina Lisitsa tells the remarkable of inventing her own career. The article contains some interesting observations about concert manners (which I've never understood) and some thoughts on reinventing the classical music business.

Classical music needs to evolve more quickly, Ms. Lisitsa said. “There is a long train, and we’re the last car in the train. Pop music is the first car. Now, any new song Lady Gaga does, she puts on YouTube first. And I don’t think she has trouble selling her CDs.”

Far from destroying classical music, Ms. Lisitsa said, YouTube will create a new audience. “We are perpetually complaining about our audiences being old,” she said.

“They are always dying but never quite die, because there will always be more old people,” she added, referring to a letter that Chopin wrote about one concert at which there were no young people in the audience because it was the start of hunting season.

Definitely worth a look.


Poetry helps patient care

For the past year, the National Aspergillosis Centre (NAC) based at the University hospital of South Manchester has employed writer in residence, Caroline Hawkridge, to work with patients and staff, because of a conviction that word exploration is already boosting the effectiveness of the care given by its health staff...

For the past year, the National Aspergillosis Centre (NAC) based at the University hospital of South Manchester has employed writer in residence, Caroline Hawkridge, to work with patients and staff, because of a conviction that word exploration is already boosting the effectiveness of the care given by its health staff.

There's not as much here as I'd like to see about the approach that's been taken, but there's enough to let me know that I'd like to see the approach use more widely.

Better late than never


I don't even remember how I discovered the last video in The Story of Stuff series. I have some catchup to do, and a fervent wish that this would also come to the attention of our Congressmen and Senators.