Alex Ross likes us...he really really likes us!

Alex Ross, classical music critic for The New Yorker, wrote this on his blog, regarding the Oregon Symphony's performance at Carnegie Hall this week:

"OREGONIANS TRIUMPHANT (accompanied by a great photo of Carlos Kalmar with his fantastic conductor hair flying)

Spring for Music is heading into the home stretch, with two concerts remaining. Last night's performance by the Oregon Symphony, under the direction of Carlos Kalmar, was pretty extraordinary; you can listen online. The good folks at NPR Classical are archiving all the concerts in the series. I will have more to say in a future issue of The New Yorker."

I'm a huge fan of Ross' writing; I don't make a habit of reading lots of music criticism, unless it's for work, but he's a cut above everyone else out there today. I'm also kind of in awe of him; he's a year younger than I am, has a dream job and won a MacArthur Fellowship a few years ago for his book, The Rest is Noise. Talk about setting a high bar...

Oh, and the New York Times liked us too:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/arts/music/oregon-symphony-at-carnegie-hall-review.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=oregon%20symphony&st=cse

shameless self-promotion(s)

Check out my latest gig, for the Jewish Review, Portland's bi-weekly Jewish rag...

http://www.jewishreview.org/local/aliyah-inspried-by-love-affair-with-pja

I'll probably be writing several times a month for them; you can always access the JR online, if you're outside Portland, here.

Also, the Oregon Symphony heads to Carnegie Hall this week to perform in a new music festival, Spring for Music. Here's an overview from Anthony Tommasini, music critic for the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/arts/music/spring-for-music-festival-to-open-at-carnegie-hall.html?_r=1&ref=anthonytommasini

I won't be going in person, but my notes will be there, in the program book. It's a great program, titled Music in a Time of War. Here's more info.

So how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Write, write, write!

Best news I've heard today

The Oregon Symphony has done something totally unexpected. I must say, after reading so many awful stories about symphonies in dire straits, this is welcome news, and not just 'cause I write for them.