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TITLE: Writing About Music in a Time of Change
SPEAKER: Tim Page
EVENT DATE: 11/30/2006
RUNNING TIME: 38 minutes
DESCRIPTION:
Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize winner and chief classical music critic for The Washington Post, delivered the 2006 Louis C. Elson Memorial Lecture on "Writing About Music in a Time of Change" in a program sponsored by the Library's Music Division and John W. Kluge Center.
The Louis C. Elson Memorial Fund was established at the Library of Congress by Elson's widow, Bertha, to provide free lectures on subjects associated with music and to foster the public's interest in music and musical literature. The Fund honors the life and work of the author and composer, a member of the faculty at the New England Conservatory who enjoyed considerable acclaim as a lecturer and writer in American musical history. Notable lecturers presented under the auspices of the Louis C. Elson Fund include Charles Seeger, Gustave Reese, Curt Sachs, Stanley Sadie, Jacques Barzun, H. Wiley Hitchcock, H.C. Robbins Landon and Charles Rosen.
Speaker Biography: Before becoming chief classical music critic of the Washington Post in 1995, Tim Page had been a music writer and culture reporter for the New York Times and chief music critic of Newsday. In 1997, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism "for his lucid and illuminating" music criticism. He has also written widely on film and literature for the Post and elsewhere. In 1981, he began an eleven-year association with WNYC-FM, presenting an afternoon program that broadcast interviews with hundreds of composers and musicians, including Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Philip Glass and Steve Reich. In 1993, Page conceived and then served as the first executive producer for BMG Catalyst, a short-lived record label devoted to new and unusual music. His projects included "Spiked," music of Spike Jones; "Memento Bittersweet," music of Chris DeBlasio, Kevin Oldham, Lee Gannon and other HIV-positive composers; "Night of the Mayas," the first CD devoted entirely to orchestral works by Silvestre Revueltas; two solo recital discs of violinist Maria Bachmann; and many others. Page is the author of "William Kapell: An Illustrated Life History of the American Pianist," "Music From The Road: Views and Reviews 1978-1992," "Glenn Gould: A Life in Pictures" and "Tim Page on Music." From 1999-2001, he was the artistic advisor and creative chair for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Julietta Stack Page.