The Misread City

MANY – perhaps most – of the people who follow the state of culture get tired of stories about the graying of the arts audience,...

NOT long ago I got to hang out at the Hollywood Bowl in the middle of the day -- which was a decadent pleasure in itself -- while talking to...

I EXPECT I'm not the only one looking forward to the concert at Disney Hall tonight, which continues over the weekend: the new Philip Gl...

YOU'LL get less of the introverted poet of Blue and only a hint of the lipstick-and-beret chanteuse of Court and Spark . Instead, Wedne...

IS there a more annoying song from the 1980s than "Don't Worry Be Happy"? Maybe -- a lot of bad childhood memories are now flo...

THE young organist Cameron Carpenter is a thinker, a talker, a rebel and a nearly androgynous figure in white jeans -- I think of him as a ...

IT"S easy to recall the rude good health with which Peter Lieberson, a serene and gracious Santa Fe-based composer who was in town for ...

RECENTLY I spoke to Anoushka Shankar, daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar, about her influences across the artistic genres. Some of her an...

Out: Argerich THE raven-haired Argentine pianist Martha Argerich is legendary both for her impassioned playing of Chopin, Brahms and Lisz...

IT'S been four years since the Glasgow indie rock band Belle & Sebastian came to America. I remember that show, in which they were ...

FOR my money, there is no more important and provocative essay about classical music over the last 10 years than an Alex Ross that begins t...

ON Saturday night I was lucky enough to catch these two bands at the Bowl. Both exceeded my expectations. Grizzly Bear, a Brooklyn group w...

One of the finest young(ish) pianists in the world appears with the Los Angeles Philharmonic this weekend -- Polish-born Piotr Anderszewski ...

FRIDAY night I was lucky enough to take in the concert Gustavo Dudamel conducted as part of the LA Philharmonic's "West Coast, Left...

ON Saturday night I took in an intriguing if imperfect concert at Disney Hall that involved Kronos Quartet, electronica duo Matmos, rocker...

SATURDAY night i took in one of the farewell concerts by esa-pekka salonen leading the los angeles philharmonic. of all the reigning  arts h...

Just back from a LA Philharmonic press conference which is the most elaborate i've seen from any arts group, including i think the gett...