In England, being named poet laureate is a lot like being named to the U.S. Supreme Court: once there, you’re there for life. More importantly, you’re expected to be the living, breathing embodiment of a tradition, of an institution constructed entirely of words, texts, precedent. And, though you aren’t expected to wear robes when performing your job, you are expected to pen occasional verses on the birth of a royal or on the opening of…

Many of you have probably heard guitarist Anthony Pirog at various bars and restaurants around the DC area, and some of you might not have even realized it. Whether playing with local jazz artists at Utopia or Tryst, as an experimental duo with celloist Janel Leppin at Bossa, or with his vintage rock band The Bang at the Velvet Lounge, Anthony’s prolific guitar work seems to find its way into just about every club and…

MONDAY >> E.L. Doctorow has had a storied career — a National Book Award for 1986’s Ragtime, a pair of film adaptations, and a prestigious position at New York University. Keep this in mind and don’t ask him about whether that story you heard about your Spring Breaking friends getting pulled over in Atlanta and tossed in the clink for joking about General Sherman’s relative velocity is an urban legend or not. He’s just got…

This DCist is always surprised to learn the strange stories behind how artists inspire one another. In 1957, Philip K. Dick published a novel called Eye in the Sky. Years later, composer Robert Dick, no relation to the author, wrote a hallucinogenic and extremely difficult piece for solo flute that takes its name and subject matter from that novel. As previewed in this week’s Classical Music Agenda, we heard the composer himself, who teaches at…