A few weeks ago the Atlantic Council hired a star video game director. Last week Brookings started the first-ever think tank fight club. And now, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a top British defense and security think tank, has announced the first-ever partnership between a think tank and an orchestra.
Here is more from RUSI:
This will be the first time, perhaps in history, where a think tank and an orchestra have come together creatively to explore their respected fields over the next two years.
The partnership will be inaugurated on 10 November with an evening of music from the Great War. Hallé musicians will perform a programme of musical pieces derived from, and around, the First World War and featuring the music of some of the country’s best loved composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth.
The event will take place at RUSI’s historic headquarters in Whitehall.
In 2015, RUSI and the Hallé will explore ‘leadership in music and the military’ with Sir Mark Elder and a leading military figure, as well as a stellar concert in October 2015 to mark the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.
Think Tank Watch wonders if think tanks will start one-upping each other for wilder and wilder partnerships. Will Brookings Institution partner with Madonna? Will American Enterprise Institute (AEI) partner with Jay-Z?
RUSI was founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington. It is a British institution but has satellite offices in Doha, Tokyo, and Washington, DC. Her Majesty the Queen is a Patron of RUSI. His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent is the President of RUSI. It is considered the world's oldest think tank.
In the most recent University of Pennsylvania think tank rankings, RUSI was named as the world's 40th best think tank. It was also named as the world's 8th best defense and national security think tank.
