http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/9995236.htm
Critics take critical look at arts news coverage
Elaine Guregian, Akron Bacon Journal, Oct. 24, 2004
How do you like your arts news? Are you looking for lots of
reviews, or other kinds of stories? What is the function of
a critic: consumer adviser, educator, arts advocate?
How has the blurring of boundaries between artistic categories
changed what critics need to do?
Last weekend, I joined music critics from around the world
at Columbia University for a conference to talk about the
role of the music critic, and how it has changed in the years
since a similar session was held at Harvard in 1948.
The symposium, organized by the National Arts Journalism
Program and the Music Critics Association of North America,
consisted of speakers and panel discussions set up to look
at trends in music criticism, specifically of classical music.
Some of the things we talked about:
- Most cities now have just one newspaper. Even in New York
City, the New York Times is the only paper to devote significant
space to classical music and the other arts. This magnifies
the impact of the comments any single critic makes. Visiting
European critics said that with many journalists at any given
event, they know that a variety of viewpoints will be aired.
- According to a survey completed in August, classical music
critics tend to be male (74 percent) and white (92 percent),
with a median age of 52. Nearly two-thirds hold graduate
degrees, and 96 percent have formal training in music. For
the record, I'm a white female a bit younger than the median,
with training as an oboist, a bachelor's degree in music
history from the University of Michigan and a master's degree
in music history from the University of Chicago.
- Do reviews matter to performers? Conductor James Conlon,
who will visit the Cleveland Orchestra next month, told the
critics that 2 percent of his colleagues admit to reading
reviews. "The other 98 percent lie," he said.
Conlon sees a paradox in that music schools in the United
States are turning out the best musicians ever, while performing
organizations are worried about declining audiences. Not
only that, but cutbacks in school music programs mean that
listeners have less background than they used to. What can
critics do? Don't just correct and admonish in their reviews,
but try to raise the consciousness of readers, he said. Don't
just talk about performances but the issues surrounding them.
- Classical musicians need to come down from their ivory
towers, more than one speaker said. Conductors who are
comfortable talking to audiences should do it. And in the
spirit of opening doors, critics need to do a better job of
educating audiences who want to understand the art form but
don't have a way into it.
- Newspapers are more interested than ever in the business
of the arts, but staffs have not grown to accommodate this
coverage. Reviewers often have to write about deficits or
labor negotiations. When organizations are having financial
problems, as many are today, reviewers can feel pressured to
temper negative comments about the artistic deficiencies, so
as not to damage the organizations. Conlon suggested that
splitting these functions between two people could help ease
the tension between newspapers and arts institutions.
- More performances of world music, and more fluid boundaries
between all styles of music, means that critics need to educate
themselves beyond classical music.
Osvaldo Golijov, an in-demand composer whose music can't be
neatly classified, said critics should think about the context
of a composition before they start evaluating its success.
Meredith Monk, a long-established artist, said newspapers
never know who to send to her performances, because they're
about theater, dance and music. Critics who are equipped to
see things from a broad cultural context will be the best
able to handle a review of Monk or the many others now who
cross boundaries.
- The trend at newspapers everywhere is away from the traditional
model of previews and reviews. Arts news stories, advances
and creative new ways of handling stories are seen by editors
as more compelling ways to draw in readers than reviews.
Editors said critics can be traditional and resist change,
but argued that to do so is not in the best interest of
readers.
Elaine Guregian is the Beacon Journal's classical music critic.
She can be reached by phone at 330-996-3574 or e-mail at
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Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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