Arts

Novel Highlights Small-Town Boosters And Naysayers

Dan Klefstad — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:25:23 +0000

"If you're from a small town," Chris Fink says, "one of the things that's required of you is that you have an opinion about that town."

Fink's debut novel, Farmer's Almanac, is full of characters who criticize or defend the Wisconsin villages of Bergamot Pond and Shady Valley -- fictional communities that struggle with the very real challenge of low milk prices.

Distinctive Voices: Three Must-Hear Violin Albums

Tom Huizenga — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:03:00 +0000

The violin, though centuries old, remains a popular yet remarkably unwieldy instrument. Just squeezing the contraption between your chin and shoulder, then raising your bow arm to the proper height, is enough to induce a pinched nerve. Yet every day countless numbers of people try to make the instrument sing.

Three of the most distinctive violinists have released new albums. Viktoria Mullova continues her exploration of music by J.S.

Wired: Come Hear New Music That Uses The Manhattan Bridge

Anastasia Tsioulcas — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:54:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OtlwCWlu6s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EDGt5l5_20

Playing Mozart — On Mozart's Violin

editor — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:23:00 +0000

The violin and viola that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played himself are in the United States for the first time ever. The instruments come out of storage only about once a year at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria. The rest of the time, they're kept under serious lockup.

An Inconvenient Tune

Pablo Helguera — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:01:00 +0000

Got an idea for a classical cartoon or a reaction to this one? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist working with sculpture, drawing, photography and performance. His new book is Helguera's Artunes.