Thomas Bertonneau (SUNY-Oswego): The New Berlioz: Musical High Romanticism in an Age of Technical and Ideological Correctness. Benedict XVI reflects on Beethoven's 9th, and says composer's suffering heightened his perceptivity. Conductor of the People: Gustavo Dudamel is a product of el sistema, Venezuela’s radical approach to music education. What will he bring with him when he leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic? Salsa without borders: The popular Latin dance helps bring nations together — one four-minute song at a time. It’s a Hip-Hop World: Rap music has long been considered a form of resistance against authority and boosted by the commercialization of the music industry, that message has proven its appeal to youth all around the world. Now, from Shanghai to Nairobi to São Paulo, hip-hop is evolving into a truly global art of communication. Negritude 2.0: An essay on deconstructing the false good rapper/bad rapper dichotomy.
