Can Robots Create Life-Changing Songs?
In a SXSW panel moderated by Bill Hochberg, music industry experts contemplated the role of artificial intelligence in the creation of songs. Hochberg, a specialist in music and media law,…
Current State of Classical Music: The Percentage Problems
“Classical music – the level of musicianship and artistry – has never been higher.” This optimistic start to a SXSW session on the state of classical music was made by…
Webb Space Telescope at SXSW
Two panel discussions were devoted to the Webb Space Telescope at SXSW in Austin last month: one on engineering, the other on science. “What we’re seeing in this beautiful new…
Felix III in Austin: I Chose Life
The recording artist Felix III debuted a smouldering song released the very week he made his appearance in Austin recently at The Vortex, during the annual Outsider Fest. “I was…
Ballet and the Holocaust
How to express ineffable suffering through dance? That is the question Austin Ballet director Stephen Mills asked himself; the answer would propel him a years-long journey of discovery full of…
ARTEMIS: The Next Moon Mission
The first crew for the Artemis mission to the Moon was announced just a few weeks after a session at SXSW on NASA’s plans to send people to the Moon…
Dr. Stamets heralds new Paradigm of Consciousness
“You can’t help but be spiritual thinking about astronomy.” So said Dr. Paul Stamets, whose appearance before a packed conference room at SXSW was full of hope for the future.…
The Importance of Footnotes
“Editing is not merely a scholarly exercise of compiling information. It is a rhetorical art.” This statement comes from Kate Bennett, one of the 14 experts who have written chapters…
WILLIAM SHATNER at SXSW: Go Be a Scientist!!
Captain Kirk beamed down to Austin to attend SXSW. In addition to his appearance as a keynote speaker, he also was in attendance later that day for the premiere of…
THE ANGELS ARE WEEPING for Virginia Zeani
I had the privilege of meeting the great opera singer Virginia Zeani in Fort Lauderdale in 2013. She died a few days ago at age 97. Zeani made her debut…