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Joseph Lam is the director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Michigan. We sat down to talk with him about kunqu, the Classical Opera of Globalized China.

Perhaps you’ve heard Mason Bates’ name, perhaps you’ve seen his picture; maybe you know he’s young, widely performed, broadly heralded and highly esteemed. There are more than enough superlative to attach to Mason Bates, but don’t let this high esteem deceive you: he is not your father’s American orchestral composer.

The musical traditions of Georgia are hardly known in the West, but the uniqueness of the music won it a designation from UNESCO in 2001 as a masterpiece of the “Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” It is so distinctive that a Georgian folksong was included among the examples of the Earth’s cultural diversity in the 1977 Voyager probe.

Take a picture of one of our UMS bus advertisements and enter to win tickets, UMS goodies, and iTunes gift cards.

“It is no coincidence that Crystal Pite became a mother shortly before beginning work on this piece and that these themes reflect her own issues resolving family and humanity versus ambition and art.” Featuring video interview with Kidd Pivot artistic director Crystal Pite, in which she discusses her approach to choreography, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and motherhood.

3 months ago, I provided some riveting coverage of the first convening of the second cohort of the LDI program. It is about time to revisit our progress. But you probably already concluded…

In this video, Kidd Pivot artistic director Crystal Pite discusses her approach to choreography, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and motherhood. Interview footage courtesy of Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College.

Photo by Bill Shell. Jim Leija, UMS Director of Education & Community Engagement, with members of the cast of “Shakespeare in the Arb,” Maria Thomas, Martin Walsh, and Jean Leverich at On…

50 years ago today I was one of 117 lucky Interlochen Arts Camp orchestra members (French horn) and dancers who performed on the White House Lawn for President Kennedy and an audience of young people. Our hosts were the children of Kennedy Cabinet members. Our conductor was Interlochen founder and president, Dr. Joseph E. Maddy, and the program represented works by composers from many nations.