The James Logan Courier

By Peter Dobrin
The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

American composer Charles Wuorinen has been commissioned by New York City Opera to write a work based on Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain," a short story about a romantic relationship between two cowboys, the company has announced.

Wuorinen, a New Yorker, has won both a Pulitzer Prize (in 1970, for "Time's Encomium") and a MacArthur grant. He has written more than 240 works, including an earlier opera, "Haroun and the Sea of Stories." Based on the novel by Salman Rushdie, it was premiered by New York City Opera in 2004.

Obviously, it's early in the game for firm answers about the new commission, but the 70-year-old composer this week offered a few clues in a phone interview about what might be heard when the work arrives on stage in the spring of 2013.

By Vanessa Colon
McClatchy Newspaper (MCT)

FRESNO, Calif. — Arthur Mkoyan, the Bullard High School valedictorian who may be deported to Armenia this month, is counting on letters of support from across the state and nation to help him.

Arthur, 17, of Fresno, Calif., pleaded to classmates, friends and teachers at his hometown Bullard High School on Friday to write letters to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein encouraging her to introduce legislation that would enable him and his parents to stay in the United States.

Friday was his last day of class at the school. Arthur will graduate Tuesday at the Save Mart Center.

From wikipedia:
Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (June 13, 1899 – August 2, 1978) was a Mexican composer, conductor, teacher, journalist, and the founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was born in Popotla, near Mexico City. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No. 2, which uses native Yaqui percussion instruments, is probably the most popular.

Read more about Carlos Chavez, free from chez.com.