Jonny is the only musician in 2024 MacArthur Fellows

Jonny is the only musician in 2024 MacArthur Fellows

News

norman lebrecht

October 02, 2024

The violinist Jonny Gandelsman of New Paltz, NY, has been granted a MacArthur Fellowship for ‘reimagining classical works and nurturing the creation of new music across styles and genres’.

The Moscow-born artist receives a $800,000, no-strings-attached grant.

The remaining laureates are academia-fashiobable. They include:
Jericho Brown of Emory University, a poet “reflecting on contemporary culture and identity in works that combine formal experimentation and intense self-examination.”

Tony Cokes of Brown University, “creating video works that re-contextualize historical and cultural moments.”

Nicola Dell of Cornell Tech, “developing technology interventions to address the needs of overlooked populations, such as survivors of intimate partner violence.”

Juan Felipe Herrera of Fresno, Califorina, “a poet, educator and writer uplifting Chicanx culture and amplifying shared experiences of solidarity and empowerment.

Shamel Pitts of Brooklyn, a dancer and choreographer “pioneering experimental performance works inspired by Afrofuturism while reimagining collective ways of world-building.”

Alice Wong of Disability Visibility Project, “a writer, editor and disability justice activist increasing the political and cultural visibility of people with disabilities and catalyzing broader understandings of disability.”

Comments

  • Oded says:

    JG is an incredible artist. Bravo to him and bravo to the jury

  • James Roe, President and Executive Director Orchestra of St. Luke's says:

    Johnny is an inspiring artist and a visionary creator. This award is richly deserved and positive for the future of music in our culture.

  • Anon says:

    Bravo to Jonny. He is a wonderful and unique artist.
    “Reimagining, nurturing, across styles and genres, reflecting on contemporary culture”, “works that combine formal experimentation and intense self-examination”, “creating video works that re-contextualize historical and cultural moments”, “a poet, educator and writer uplifting Chicanx culture and amplifying shared experiences of solidarity and empowerment”, “pioneering experimental performance works inspired by Afrofuturism while reimagining collective ways of world-building”.
    Apart from the bit about the two that are addressing violence and disability, all of this is written in such a pretentious and snobby manner. It’s so off-putting, in a language solely catered towards coastal liberal elites. It’s worth pointing this out because classical music also suffers from this, with The NY Times and The New Yorker being amongst the most pretentious.

    • frank says:

      What ( who?) in the world is a chicanx?

    • V.Lind says:

      I don’t think it’s the language that is off-putting. It is the EXTREME DIE content of the descriptions of those who won. Obviously the Wordsworths, Shelleys and Keats of the world need not apply — you know, white men who wrote about nature and love and art and occasionally politics.

      I’m the Canadian version of a liberal coastal elite and I find it all extremely off-putting. And tiresome.

    • Rory Paul says:

      I’m not understanding your view. It’s basic journalism.

  • Pianofortissimo says:

    Don’t you think that terms like “Chicanx” should be very offensive to the referred people.

  • tet says:

    $800K over 5 years or $160K per year, is that all genius is worth? Better off being a second violinist in an American orchestra.

    • Get Real says:

      But he couldn’t win a job in one. Easier to just have a solo career doing whatever.

    • V.Lind says:

      Hardly. Second violinists earning whatever they earn work their backsides off to get paid. This prize has no strings. It is EXTRA money. It is enough to let him sit and think if he wants, or to work as much as he wants thereby vastly increasing his income. Get a grip.

    • Bill says:

      It’s $800,000 in addition to whatever else you are doing. That 2nd violin gig would require you to show up for 20 hours a week, remember, even if you didn’t practice.

  • Olaf Olafson says:

    Johnny Gandelsman is an exceptional violinist, revelatory in Bach, inventive in his quartet, and so forth — he deserves all the praise.

    But what set him apart for the woke MacArthur crowd –– what enabled them to select him –– is that in 2020 he commissioned 28 new pieces from composers who, as a whole, do not identify as a white male demographically. Not a single one — please correct me. This detail goes unsaid in all the PR accompanying the album but did not get overlooked by the committee — after all, isn’t it wonderful, haven’t we had enough of white male composers?

    The only white composers a musician can play must be already in the ground. There’s no racism like anti-racism.

  • Mr Belvedere says:

    The other winners of this award
    are highly-accomplished artists and thinkers, and diminishing them as “academic-fashiobable” is immature and ignorant af.

  • MOST READ TODAY: