‘Cultural activist’ is new principal guest conductor
OperaElizabeth Askren, newly appointed principal guest conductor of Hawaii Opera Theatre, describes herself as ‘conductor, educator, and cultural activist’. Three jobs for the price of one.
A master teacher at both The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors and at the Paris Opera’s Academy, Askren made history by judging the Paris Philharmonic’s inaugural La Maestra Competition for Women Conductors alongside her mentor, Marin Alsop. Askren is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Transylvanian Opera Academy (TOA), Romania’s first opera studio and is regularly invited to speak about leadership, culture-preneurship, inclusivity, and cultivating humanity in the age of AI.
What is a cultural activist? Please enlighten me.
This might do as a provisional definition: someone who works to maintain, cultivate and expand the role and importance of culture in an increasingly demotic and technocratic world.
Nice work, thank you!
A cultural activist is someone who actively embarks on enterprises that aim to improve the application of cultural subjects in the participation of appropriate membership.
Why all the thumbs down? When I read that beautiful definition, several times, I get a warm feeling in my google.
Sally
Someone hired to eliminate dead white guys from the repertoire and replace it with “woke” works and the complete operas of Grant Still every season.
Someone out to destroy the very art they depend on.
I love this stuff! Bit by bit we’re winning.
Sally
All I can say to that, John, is :
Culture-preneurship
I am a ‘cultural activist’ since 35 years. Thanks for giving me a title 🙂 Look where we are now? – I just want plain great classical music which does go straight into my soul and no marketing concept.
And no AI – everybody seems to try to make it there now.
AI stands for ‘Authoritarian Idiocy’.
I can go one better: I’m a critic, social influencer, activist, and philanthropist.
(I post here, have 12 followers, vote, and take stuff to jumble sales).
I’m new to this publication so maybe I’m missing the point, but my phone’s browser has thrown up two similar articles today, this one and the one about the new Barbican director, and both consist of a sort of snarky little comment followed by a press release/bio about the person.
The intention in both seems to be to belittle or undermine the people in question, who are both women.
I love classical music and I’ve been to the Barbican a fair amount – maybe that’s why Google thinks I’d be interested in this – but I seem to have stumbled into strange, misogynistic classical music blog!
Yes I’m fighting it daily!
Sally
A “cultural activist” is mostly a master bullsh**tter surfing on the hype to promote his/her career.
Would be nice if she stuck just to conducting and dropped the activism B.S.
We do live in the golden age of bullshit
There is no culture in Hawaii and the org. she joins is nowhere. No profile, no chance to shine. Nearly bankrupt.
What could go wrong?
Maybe they/them will set the life of George Floyd to music?
As an adjacent ally, I hope we can bring in more members of BLM, antifa, Hamas, et al.