NY Philharmonic Hands Over the Reigns: The New York Philharmonic announced this past week that Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden (pronounced “Yahp van ZVAY-den”) will be its next music director. The 55-year-old, who currently directs the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, will succeed Alan Gilbert when he steps down next year. Known for being intense and exacting, van Zweden faces rather intimidating tasks: acting as the public face of the orchestra as it attempts to raise $360 million for the renovation of its home hall–as well as retaining the group’s audience during said renovation (slated to begin in 2019 and last through at least 2 seasons). Van Zweden is meeting the challenge with optimism, saying: “It’s a challenging time, but it is also a time where I would say that there are an incredible amount of possibilities.” The next several years will certainly see several exciting transitions for the orchestra!

Auction Houses Prepare for a Challenging Year: The biggest international auction houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, have released figures suggesting that the art market boom of recent years has reached and passed its peak. The companies’ 2015 results showed slight decreases in year-over-year sales–making this past year the first one since 2010 that both companies did not report an increase. Experts suggest the numbers do not reflect a burst bubble, but herald a challenging year for the art market. With the new market climate, owners have become reluctant to sell high-value works; buyers, in turn, are hesitant to invest in works by anyone besides artists with established reputations. In effect, this usually means that buyers and collectors will focus “more financial attention on an older generation of artists, rather than emerging contemporary,” according to an art adviser in New York. Hopefully this caution on the part of collectors will be temporary have no lasting effect on the perceived value of contemporary art.

Ballet in the Brain–Practice Makes Perfect: A study conducted at York University analyzed fMRI scans of professional dancers over the course of 34 weeks of dance rehearsals and found evidence of increased cortical region activity after weeks of practice. Specifically, practicing and performing at seven weeks led to higher activity in areas of the brain compared with during the first week of rehearsals. Professor Joseph DeSouza, who studies Parkinson’s disease, believes “the study outcome will help with understanding motor learning and developing effective treatments to rehabilitate the damaged or diseased brain.” Particularly of use may be the result that brain activity in relevant regions actually decreased again towards the end of the 34 weeks, resulting in an inverted “U” learning pattern–suggesting that neurons within these regions had become more efficient. The results stand as one further step both toward understanding how the brains of artists work as well as helping to inform rehabilitation for those with sensorimotor impairments.

Exploring the Worlds of Salvador Dali: A recent show at The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida features 3D looks into the surreal works of artist Salvador Dali. The show, entitled “Disney and Dali: Architects of the Imagination,” allows visitors to wear visual headsets that bring them into the imagined worlds of the Spanish artist. The experience first brings participants through his 1935 painting “Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s ‘Angelus'” before others of his masterpieces. Read more about the fascinating show and see a YouTube video glimpse into the 3D experience here.