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let's discuss: Tim Page on Being Your Own Music Critic

August 10, 2012 By sybariticsinger 6 Comments

[vimeo 38778004 w=500 h=281]

Tim Page Keynote from Oberlin College on Vimeo.

I just wanted to share a video that I found via my friends Arlene and Larry over at Acornometrics. They went to this keynote speech given by Tim Page at the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism back in January. Page’s writing on music has been quite influential to my style of covering the Baltimore music scene. The 65 essays compiled in Tim Page on Music are incredibly perceptive and engaging. Some of those “illumined moments” he covers in the book led to his receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1997. I only wish I could have been at Peabody when he was teaching there while writing for the Washington Post.

He makes a great (although self-described cliché) point that we are in the “best of times and the worst of times” when it comes to music criticism. “It’s in the air,” he says. With the advent of music criticism on the internet, much like this very blog, everyone is able to express their opinion about music performance which can be a wonderful thing. Page remembers often being the only critic at many events while working for the New York Times and other publications. We are in the unique position to have many people of different backgrounds, values, and interests review the music happening all over the country.

I often see a Roosevelt quote cropping up from time to time on Facebook: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…” Usually posted by young artists, they miss the point that we are all in the life cycle of music together. Page encourages us all to explore with the art and with writing about art.

Filed Under: Discuss, Uncategorized Tagged With: Music Criticism, Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, Tim Page

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Arlene and Larry Dunn says

    August 10, 2012 at 4:10 pm

    Another great post. Of course doesn’t hurt (and we are flattered) to be in it. Did you watch far enough in to catch our “star turns”?

    Reply
    • sybariticsinger says

      August 10, 2012 at 4:13 pm

      I did. I thought you were great. Catching the Roche Sisters? Way to go! Plus, thanks for introducing me to the Rubin Institute.

      Reply
  2. Judah Adashi says

    August 11, 2012 at 2:06 am

    I was lucky enough to take Tim’s class at Peabody!

    Reply
    • sybariticsinger says

      August 11, 2012 at 9:18 am

      I’m envious! How was it?

      Reply
  3. Petra Raspel says

    August 11, 2012 at 5:20 am

    Reblogged this on petra raspel singing studio and commented:
    Well worth thinking about…

    Reply
  4. Judah Adashi says

    August 11, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    Terrific. Tim is a dear friend.

    Reply

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