MCANA member Colin Eatock has set up a FACEBOOK page for MCANA Members. The Facebook group is searchable only as "MCANA" -- not as "Music Critics Association of North America". You must be a member of FACEBOOK to access the site, but that's easy to do once you're on the web page. Here's a link: MCANA FACEBOOK
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Donations have been received, as of 12/31/2009, from the following MCANA Members for the Web Project:
- Andries, Dorothy
- Anonymous
- Brodie, Susan
- Bustard, Clarke
- Delacoma, Wynne
- Dicks, Roy C.
- Feldman, Mary Ann
- Finn, Robert
- French, Gil
- Hutton, Mary Ellyn
- Kennelly, Laura
- Lambert, John
- MacMillan, Kyle
- Markow, Robert
- Miller, Sarah Bryan
- Remmey, Louise Austin
- Rosenberg, Donald
- Serinus, Jason Victor
- Shulson, John
- Smith, Tim
- Stabler, David
- Strauss, Elaine
- Trotter, Herman
- Waleson, Heidi
- Wein, Gail
- Wright, David
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For a recap of the 2009 annual meeting, please visit that page by clicking HERE
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| Brenda Starr |
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The music goes on
"I always wanted to be Brenda Starr, and by some strange coincidence,
I was laid off the same week she was.
After several decades as classical music critic for Pioneer Press, a
chain of weekly papers in dozens of suburban communities around
Chicago, I have fallen victim to the financial problems of the
newspaper industry and joined the 6.3 million Americans who are
unemployed.
Even though Pioneer is itself profitable, because it is part of the
struggling Sun Times Media Group, it has been cutting personnel for
several years, initially with buy-outs.
A group of senior news editors was let go in early January and I was
not, so I thought I had dodged the bullet. On March 31 the Sun Times
Media Group filed for bankruptcy protection, to get out from under a $600
million tax bill owed to the US government by the previous owner
Conrad Black, who is currently in prison for what a federal judge
called "looting the company."
I was laid off April 16 and no one laid off after bankruptcy is given
severance pay. So though I had been at Pioneer for 27 consecutive
years, the only cushion I received was my remaining vacation pay.
Plus, I had to leave that very day and the legal procedure was to walk me
out the door — as if I would steal a stapler! My exit was
chronicled by award-winning journalist Michael Miner in his Hot
Type column for the Chicago Reader issue of April 23, titled "The
Short Goodbye."
Pioneer Press has asked me to review performances at the Ravinia Festival,
the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as
performances of local musical groups, which includes three symphony
orchestras, at least a dozen chamber and vocal ensembles and countless
solo programs. So some classical music coverage will continue, but due
to space restrictions, much of it will run — where do you think? — on
the web. I just hope my readers can find it!"
Dorothy Andries
Still classical music critic
Deerfield, Illinois
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MCANA Members James Bash and Gail Wein among 23 Music Journalists Awarded Fellowships to
Columbia University's NEA Arts Journalism Institute -
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Letter from MCANA to the Cleveland Plain Dealer -
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Music Critics Association of North America
MCA Educational Activities, Inc.
722 Dulaney Valley Road Suite 259. Baltimore MD 21204
musiccritics@aol.com - www.mcana.org
October 21, 2008
Susan Goldberg, editor
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Plain Dealer Plaza
1801 Superior Avenue East
Cleveland, Ohio 44114-21989
Dear Ms. Goldberg,
The decision to reassign our colleague, Don Rosenberg, and remove him from the duty of reviewing the Cleveland Orchestra has shocked the journalistic and music worlds. We wish to add our voices to what has become an international chorus of protest and concern. (Neither Mr. Rosenberg nor Zachary Lewis was consulted or involved in the preparation of this letter.)
Mindful of your authority as editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and your description of Mr. Rosenberg’s case as an internal personnel matter, we nonetheless must urge you to rescind your action. The silencing of a critic not only challenges the foundation of our particular profession, but weakens the foundation of journalism itself. It is not at all hyperbolic to see this case as a threat to a free and independent press.
We ask you to consider this theoretical scenario: A newspaper hires a commentator to give opinions about the local mayor and city council on a regular basis; the writer's work draws fire from the politicians and their supporters; the newspaper relieves the writer of his post. No self-respecting publication would ever do such a thing, but your treatment of Mr. Rosenberg has unavoidably put the Plain Dealer in this unflattering light.
There has been much speculation about pressure, overt or subtle, being exerted on you by forces outside the newsroom. We do not wish to add to that speculation, but many of us are certainly aware of what can happen in any community when some people find fault with a music critic. Whatever prompted your move, it has led to consequences that we cannot imagine you would have ever wanted.
In our view, a highly respected and qualified writer (who served for two terms as president of the Music Critics Association of North America) has been subjected to an unwarranted and unreasonable reassignment; a newspaper with a long history of service to its community has had its integrity and honesty questioned; and the free and unfettered public discussion that music criticism tries to foster has been unduly hampered.
We ask you to restore Mr. Rosenberg’s critical voice and the credibility of the Plain Dealer.
The following names include the board of directors of the Music Critics Association of North America and many of our members, as well as other music journalists from around the country who wished to join us in support of Don Rosenberg.
- Dorothy Andries, classical music critic, Pioneer Press (Glenview, IL)
- Michael Anthony, Opera Canada; Opera magazine; former music critic, Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Margaret M. Barela, American Record Guide
- James Bash, Opera magazine, The Columbian
- Janet E. Bedell, program annotator (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
- *Martin Bernheimer, Financial Times; Opera magazine; music critic, Los Angeles Times (1965-1996)
- Susan Brodie, American Record Guide
- Clarke Bustard, Letter V: the Virginia Classical Music Blog
- Scott Cantrell, music critic, Dallas Morning News
- Sedgwick Clark, editor, Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts
- Robert Commanday, music critic (retired) San Francisco Chronicle; Editor (retired) San Francisco Classical Voice; former president, Music Critics Association of North America
- Robert Croan, senior editor and former classical music critic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Wynne Delacoma, freelance; classical music critic, Chicago Sun-Times (1991-2006)
- Roy C. Dicks, contracted freelance classical music critic, Raleigh (NC) News & Observer
- Dimitri Drobatschewsky, Arizona Republic (Phoenix), Opera Magazine
- Andrew Druckenbrod, music critic, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
- Jeremy Eichler, music critic, Boston Globe
- Susan Elliott, editor, MusicalAmerica.com
- Mary Ann Feldman, Minnesota Orchestra Showcase Magazine, Grand Teton Music Festival
- Robert Finn, music critic, Cleveland Plain Dealer (1964-1992)
- John Fleming, performing arts critic, St Petersburg Times
- Richard Freed, program annotator (National Symphony Orchestra)
- Gil French, concert editor, American Record Guide
- Janos Gereben, www.sfcv.org, San Francisco
- Richard S. Ginell, Los Angeles Times; American Record Guide
- Peter Goodman, assistant professor, Department of Journalism, Media Studies and Public Relations, Hofstra University; former critic, Newsday, New York Newsday
- Paul Hertelendy, coordinator and critic of www.artssf.com; former music critic, San Jose Mercury News
- Paul Horsley, former music critic, Kansas City Star
- Michael Huebner, Birmingham News
- Barbara Jepson, contributor, The Wall Street Journal "Leisure & Arts"
- Leslie Kandell, freelance
- Mark Kanny, classical music critic, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
- Laura Kennelly, arts columnist, Morning Journal (Lorain)
- Joshua Kosman, music critic, San Francisco Chronicle
- John W. Lambert, Classical Voice of North Carolina, Inc.
- Marty Lash, Door County Advocate
- Jens F. Laurson, Classical Critic-at-Large, WETA-FM, Washington D.C.
- George Loomis, Financial Times; International Herald Tribune
- Robert Markow, Opera Magazine, Opera News, American Record Guide, program annotator (Montreal Symphony)
- Martin Mayer, retired critic, Esquire Magazine (1951-1975); Opera Magazine (1984-2002)
- Anne Midgette, classical music critic, The Washington Post
- Sarah Bryan Miller, music critic, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Frank J. Oteri, editor, New Music Box
- *Tim Page, University of Southern California; former classical music critic, Washington Post
- Andrew Patner, Classical Music Critic, Chicago Sun-Times, Critic-at-Large, 98.7WFMT Radio Chicago and wfmt.com
- James L Paulk, contributor, Das Opernglas
- Alvin H, Reiss, editor, Arts Management
- Louise Austin Remmey, former contributor to Washington Post, Baltimore Sun
- Alex Ross, music critic, The New Yorker
- Georgia Rowe, former music critic, Contra Costa Times; Opera News, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Examiner
- Jason Victor Serinus, Opera News, American Record Guide, Stereophile
- Tim Smith, music critic, Baltimore Sun
- David Stabler, classical music critic, The Oregonian
- Elaine Strauss, US 1 Newspaper (Princeton); Chamber Music; Clavier
- Perry Tannenbaum, American Record Guide; Creative Loafing (Charlotte, NC)
- Richard Todd, Ottawa Citizen
- Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic, The New York Times
- Herman Trotter, music critic emeritus, The Buffalo News; American Record Guide
- J. J. Van Vlasselaer, music critic, Le Droit (Ottawa)
- John von Rhein, music critic, Chicago Tribune
- S. James Wegg, managing editor, JWR (Canada)
- David Wright, freelance; former program annotator (New York Philharmonic)
* Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism
MCANA OFFICERS
President Tim Smith Baltimore Sun
Vice President Barbara Jepson Wall St. Journal
Secretary J.J. Van Vlasselaer LeDroit
Treasurer Paul Horsley freelance
Members at Large –
Andrew Druckenbrod Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Joshua Kosman San Francisco Chronicle
Zachary Lewis Freelance
Sarah Bryan Miller St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Frank J. Oteri NewMusicBox
Ex-Officio
Donald Rosenberg Cleveland Plain Dealer
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MCANA letter, composed by Tim Smith and sent from the MCANA Board, posted on the Romenesko site
- CLICK HERE
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| Links of interest to MCANA Members |
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Links of interest to MCANA Members have been added to our site. To open a web site, just scroll on the word "Latest Updates of Interest" from the main menu and select "Web sites of Interest" from the drop-down menu. You can click on any hyperlink shown to open the web sites.
If MCANA Members would like to share any site of interest with other members, please e-mail the web address to Robert Leininger at musiccritics@aol.com
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SPECIAL MCANA MEMBER DISCOUNTS!
Special discounts are available for current MCANA Members for MusicalAmerica.com (40% off the annual subscription fee) and for Opera News (50% Discount on one year subscription.)
Contact Robert Leininger at musiccritics@aol.com for required codes to receive discounts.
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| CRITICS SURVEY |
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FIRST EVER SURVEY OF CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITICS IN U.S. and CANADA RELEASED TODAY
The Music Critics Association of North America and Columbia University's National Arts Journalism Program jointly released today "The Classical Music Critic: A Survey of Classical Music Critics at General Interest and Specialized News Publications in America."
The 54-page report, analyzed by Princeton University's Lawrence McGill, is available in PDF format by link in the console at the top of this page, or at www.najp.org, and includes information about the numbers, demographics, educational backgrounds, work situations, ethical beliefs and musical tastes of those writing about classical music today.
KEY FINDINGS:
*The average classical music critic is a white, 52-year-old male with a graduate degree. BUT, 26% of all critics writing are female, and their numbers are equally spread from the youngest to the most experienced in the field.
*Four out of five critics agree that "we can be proud of the new classical works that we have created in Canada and the U.S. over the past 25 years." However, more than half of the critics surveyed disagreed that "composers are breaking genuinely new ground these days."
*There is a generational gap between younger critics - those 46 and younger- and older writers. In a word, "modern" and "American" are in among the younger writers, who tend to be more open to a wider range of contemporary composers, while masters like Handel, Wagner, Dvorak and Schumann are out.
*John Adams was the most liked contemporary composer; Mozart was the most liked historical composer.
To view the complete CRITICS SURVEY, please scroll on the word NEWSLETTER at the top left of this page and select "CRITICS SURVEY" from the drop down list, or click on the image in this article.
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| "Shifting Ears" Essays |
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Two essays, one by John Rockwell and one by Joe Horowitz, who were keynote speakers at October's Shifting Ears Symposium, have been added to the MCANA web site. Scroll over the word "NEWSLETTER" at the top left of this page and select "SHIFTING EARS" from the drop down menu to view the essays.
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