Two of the best summer musicfestivals are held at Tenglewood, Massachusetts, in the East and at Aspen, Colorado, in the West.

Opera

There are 80 major opera companies in the United States. For more than 40 years the fanous Metropolitan Opera Company in New York has broadcast a performance every Saturday afternoon during the opera season, bringing music of the highest quality.



Musicals

The modern American theatre has perfected an unusual art form: the musical play. These musicals combine songs and dances in both traditional and modern styles with original music in stories of dramatic interest, f.e.: “My Fair Lady“, “Hello, Dolly“.

Literature

About 28,000 new books and plays are published each year. Low-cost books in paper covers make available some of the world;s best literature to American readers. Each day an average of nearly one million copies of all books, including textbooks, are sold.
There are more than 30,000 libraries in the US. More than a third of them are free public libraries whicg lend about 500 million books a year. There are more than 2,800 university libraries, Harvard University has the largest one. There are about 1,500 medical and nearly 300 governmental libraries. A copy of every major book published in the US goes to the government;s Library of Congress in Washington D.C., which is the nation;s largest library.

Arts and sculptures

Many americans study arts and there are several million amateur painters and sculptors. The USA has more than 500 art schools. Nearly every town of any size has an art gallery, a museum, or both. Notable art museums include the National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum(the nation;s largest museum), the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Stage and screen

Many new plays are presented first on Brodway, the theatre district of New York. If they are successful they go “on the road“ to other cities throughout the country. To many Americans, seeing a Brodway show is a high point in their visit to the country;s largest city.
Motion pictures remain a favourite form of entertainment despite the popularity of tevelision. There are some 11,000 motion picture theatres and about 4,000 outdoor “drive-ins“ where patrons sit in their own cars and watch films. Educational or documentary films have wide appeal also. Educational films are shown in schools, clubs, as well as in theatres. Television gives the American people a wide variety of programmes from early morning until late at night. Watching Tv is very popular among Americans.