Our weekly round-up of arts and culture news in the Greater Seattle area.

Guest: Turn STEM into STEAM with Arts Education                                                                                                 

The Seattle Times, John Maeda

I tell people that I am a native of Seattle, but that I only knew it before it became cool. The creative economy hadn’t really happened yet — Boeing was the booming Microsoft equivalent back then; there was nascent grunge music and no coffee culture to speak of.

Guest: Arts education can transform young people                                                                                                 

The Seattle Times, Ludovic Morlot

As music director of the Seattle Symphony, I believe in the intrinsic power of the arts to enrich our lives, and that the influence of the arts can be substantial and transformative, especially for young people.

Can Yo-Yo Ma Fix the Arts?                                                                                               NPR, Tom Huizenga

Describing himself as a “venture culturalist,” Yo-Yo Ma has a musical appetite as wide as the world. He’s fearless in the face of Bach, bluegrass or bossa nova, but Monday night he tried on yet another hat, delivering the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center concert hall.

5th Avenue-ACT Partnership: A national model for theater collaboration                                                                                                                                                       

Crosscut, Alice Kaderlan

In a city known for its collaborative artistic spirit, the relationship between The Fifth Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre has borne special fruit. “First Date,” the pair’s knockout, irreverent musical about a blind date ran for 10 almost entirely sold-out weeks in 2012 and is headed to Broadway this coming July. The theaters’ previous collaboration, “Vanities,” did well critically and at the box office and their current co-production of “Grey Gardens,” although plagued by a weak book and forgettable music, is drawing strong audiences.

‘The Brother from Another Planet’ launches 10th Langston Hughes film fest

The Seattle Times, John Hartl

Seattle’s Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, in its 10th year, opens April 13 with “The Brother from Another Planet” and ends April 21 with “Into the Hive.” All festival events will be held at the freshly renovated Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.