Commentary
In Boston, Leonard Bernstein might have sustained Serge Koussevitzky’s bold adventure—and changed the course of American classical music. Today’s Boston Symphony is adrift
Though Brian Wilson has left us, his enormous musical legacy lives on through a growing series of posthumous CD and vinyl reissues and books.
The artist is a glitzy ribbon that ties together incompatible images—the mega-prison and the megastar.
Ultimately—and regardless of one’s take on Andris Nelsons as an artist—it’s hard to see how the institution’s long-term interests are served by last week’s developments.
At a moment when arts and culture, public education, historical memory, and American democracy itself are under coordinated attack, silence is not a neutral posture. It is a decision with consequences.
Meeting today’s challenge—harnessing the performing arts to prepare the next generation to sustain democracy—requires broader collaboration not only with schools and community partners but among TYA companies themselves.
Protecting live theater, along with the other arts that the NEA has supported, is urgent, and it begins, as it did with me, by loving theater, either as a regular member of the audience or as someone onstage or behind the scenes.
The “Look” of the 2026 Games succeeds at what should be its elemental function — the connection of beauty, athleticism, celebration, and memory.
Onwards for an invaluable poll from a community of critics that gives us a map to an expansive world of jazz to explore — with hints at terra incognita.
Classical Music Commentary: What’s Next for the Boston Symphony? — Lessons from the Past
With today’s Boston Symphony in an uproar, lacking direction, attention should be paid to Henry Higginson, who invented the Boston Symphony. He knew what he was doing. He knew how to scout and hire conductors. He knew what music he wanted played. He knew what the orchestra was for.
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