230 stories from Chloe Veltman
It's always a humbling experience critiquing other people's artistic efforts and attempting to put your own out there.I spent Saturday morning in the company of some talented San Francisco C…
Stanford is very proud of its "D.School," the nickname for the much grander-sounding Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford.The Kool Aid-drinking that goes on when people talk about …
A few thoughts about the weekend past, and two recommendations for the one that's just around the corner...1) Mark Morris' Dido and Aeneas at Cal Performances: The famed American choreograph…
One thing I've been thinking about lately is the relationship between journalism and advocacy.The word 'advocacy' has a slightly pejorative ring to it, or somehow seems antithetical in some …
Sometimes in life you go looking for one thing and end up finding another.On Friday night, I set off for the De Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, fully intending to spend the…
There seems to be a sense of relief among my colleagues on the Knight Fellowship program at Stanford about not having to cover 9/11 commemoration stuff. Most of them are hard news people of …
"Gabriel's Oboe," Ennio Morricone's haunting theme from the 1986 film The Mission has a special place in my heart as an oboist. The melody is so beautifully written for the instrument. It so…
My life seems to be all about endings and beginnings at the moment. I spent the eve of the start of my John S Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford last night wandering around downtown Pa…
A friend of mine based in Asia just forwarded me this email from a friend of his who's based in Amsterdam. The Dutch and Belgian papers are all over this story about a religious nut's attemp…
Memorial Church on the Stanford campus is probably the loveliest religious buildings I've seen in this country to date. I walked around the space with my eyes like saucers and my mouth agape…
Two unrelated thoughts for Tuesday:First of all, I read an interesting bit of trivia about the actor Bela Lugosi yesterday. Apparently, when the Hungarian native started appearing in English…
Experiencing acute nostalgia as I grab a cup of coffee at Arlequin, the cafe where I have spent almost every weekday morning for the past two years blogging about arts and culture.I am decam…
I knew I was in trouble last night when within five minutes of the start of the Mayoral Arts Forum, a panel discussion led by radio host Michael Krasny exploring the arts policies of 10 San …
Two topics to air this morning:1) House concerts can be tricky to do well. Either the hosts are super rich and hold the recitals in some purpose-built hall or barn which lacks the warmth of …
It's a rare treat for me to embark upon a road trip armed with a stack of long-overdue-to-listen-to CDs for the journey. I don't own a car, so only get to drive in rental vehicles. And when …
In the world of journalism, the arts are considered a niche.Until recently, I had always thought of niches as being at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of getting enough attention to make th…
One thing that I am appreciating as I delve deeper into the worlds of magic, vaudeville and circus, is how much of a difference the ingredients of theatre -- most obviously, narrative and ch…
I had been warned by a few magicians that The Magic Castle, Hollywood's exclusive supper club for magicians which is widely considered to be ground zero for magic in this country, would not …
A weekend of motley cultural pleasures, which I'd like to summarize for you:1. Lamplighters' H.M.S. Pinafore at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: Having been blown away by the Oregon Shakespe…
The other day, a random person I met in a bar asked me if I knew the difference between conjuring and magic. I confessed that I thought they were the same thing.Apparently they are not.Accor…
I've just been engaged in an interesting impromptu email exchange about reed players with one of the editors at the New York Times. I've been writing about Classical Revolution this week for…
I've been wanting to visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) ever since I first heard about the massive, southern Oregon-based company's fame upon arriving in the U.S. in 1998. I'm asham…
I learned something new last night during an interview about boychoirs for VoiceBox, the weekly public radio program on KALW 91.7 FM, podcast series and website which I host and produce all …
There are many interesting things to say about The Trip, Michael Winterbottom's luminous and positively-reviewed film starring the British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Commentators…
Generally, it's easy to find out the run-time of a performance. Just ask the box-office or an usher. If you're not enjoying yourself at the theatre, you can either leave (if it's feasible to…
