Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, paid Ampersand the ultimate compliment by mentioning it in his blog, "The Rest is Noise, " because of Corinne DeWitt's ('16) coverage of the mobile opera, "Hopscotch," and by coming to class at USC Master of Arts Journalism. Seen here, Ross talks avidly about John Cage, about whom he wrote a milestone piece in the New Yorker in 2010, and why he thinks Cage is relevant to "Hopscotch" and arts journalists today. As part of class discussion, Arts Journalism grad student and roots music specialist, Jonathan Shifflett, '16, performed Cage's 4'3" on his guitar.
The afternoon with Ross and Shifflett illustrates the USC Arts Journalism Master's practice of having journalists and artists together in the same class to work together with professionals toward journalism's future. We actually do it! Together, we come closer to knowing what has to be done, across generations, across the arts, across professionals and amateurs, to make journalism that is exciting. And together we discuss how we shall get paid for what we do.
You can see excerpts from Shifflett's performance of 4'33" in this video taken by his classmate, Donna Granata, '16. The concert took place in the living room of Kerckhoff Hall at USC in the fall 2015 semester.