IN MEMORY: During its Spring Celebration performances this week, Dallas Black Dance Theatre will debut a work inspired by the music of Nina Simone. DBDT shared a stage with Simone during a concert in Italy 20 years ago, and that one night together was one Ann Williams never forgot. “I thought we can’t just let her die,” the DBDT artistic director tells dallasnews.com. “That connection with Dallas Black Dance is something I wanted in the rep.”

LISTEN UP: A new study shows what musicians have known all along: that their brains are highly developed. That extra development makes them interested in learning and is a trait shared by other high-functioning people, including top athletes and those successful in the business world. If you’re one of those big-brained musicians, read more about how awesome you are over at sciencedaily.com.

QUOTABLE: “When you play music, your mind is not on yourself. You’re involved in what you are doing, and you don’t think about yourself. You get involved in the music itself. And there is a soothing, kind of healing effect in being involved with performing.”

– John Giordano, chair of both the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the current amateur competition, in an interview with Front Row.