Journalism

Mostly I write about classical music with occasional forays into other subjects relating to the arts. As a rule, I do like to have a few assignments on the go on entirely unrelated subjects so I’m not boring at parties.

Journalists of all stripes have seen space for their work go the way of the dodo but it seems the pain is particularly acute for those of us who want to write about the performing arts. To combat this I have done what many others have and created my own space on the web. TheOmniscientMussel.com was launched in September of 2007 and 900 posts later, it’s still going strong.

The following is a list of everything that I’ve written or created for newspapers, magazines and radio since 2007.

2010/11

1st September 2010 — Before Jackie Evancho — Culture Monster blog – Los Angeles Times

2009/10

31st August 2010 — Jackie Evancho’s Voice Strikes A Chord — Los Angeles Times

1st August 2010 — “Talent, timing land Yannick Nézet-Séguin with the Philadelphia Orchestra” — Los Angeles Times

1st August 2010 –“The Passions of Monsieur Nézet-Séguin” — Culture Monster Blog – Los Angeles Times

11th July 2010 — “Is Opera Mean To Be Fun?” — Culture Monster Blog – Los Angeles Times

11th July 2010 — “Opera Is Rufus Wainwright’s Main Squeeze” — Los Angeles Times

June 2010 — “Human Trafficking: the aviation industry to the rescue” — Aviation Security International

April 2010 — “Albus Cavus: A Profile” (pdf not available) — Energy of the City – lifestyle mag for Washington Gas in D.C.

March 2010 — “The Singing Policeman” — Short radio documentary for Saturday Afternoon At The Opera CBC Radio 2 (link forthcoming)

Jan/Feb 2010 — “Sounds Like Love: songs that stir the heart” (pdf) — Grand River Magazine (Kitchener-Waterloo)

16th November 2009 — DaCapo choir opens season with brilliant effort — The Waterloo Record
13th November 2009 — KWS: Baroque and Beyond — The Waterloo Record
11th November 2009 – Loads of promise, but young quartet has some mellowing to do — The Waterloo Record
30th October 2009 — Conrad Centre and orchestra need time together — The Waterloo Record

18th October 2009 — “NonClassical: London” — radio documentary for Sunday Afternoon in Concert CBC Radio 2 (last audio sample on page)

18th October 2009 — “The Nightingale And Other Short Fables” — TheOmniscientMussel.com

18th October 2009 — “Quartet tackles the meaning of life from a weighty, Goethe point of view” — The Waterloo Record
16th October 2009 — “Setting’s more comfortable, but jazz event at Music Room felt a tad uneven” — The Waterloo Record

October 2009 — Musical Instruments: A Screener’s Guide (pdf) — Aviation Security International

7th September 2009 — “To Aria Is Human, To Tweet Is Divine” — The Toronto Star – review of the Twitterdammerung, the Royal Opera House’s Twitter opera project.

5th September 2009 — Re-inventing The Book Tour – Again — The Toronto Star – reviewing Margaret Atwood’s book tour/road show

2008/09

All pieces for The Record unless otherwise noted

14th July 2009 — “A Respectable Effort From Novice Wainwright” — The Toronto Star – review of Prima Donna

11th July 2009 — “Prima Donna Get Premiere After All” — The Toronto Star – interview with Rufus Wainwright

11th May 2009 — “Da Capo caps season with a masterful show of colour and texture”
24th April – 3rd May –Open Ears Festival 2009– TheOmniscientMussel.com
2nd April 2009 — “KWS Back To Baroque” — TheOmnsicientMussel.com
23rd March 2009 — Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Music Society — TheOmniscientMussel.com
10th March 2009 — “DaCapo pours it on”
2nd March 2009 — “Menno masters Mozart”

28th February 2009 — “Opera Thrives Outside The GTA” — The Toronto Star — A look at what’s happening in Kitchener, Hamilton and London.

28th February 2009 — “Opera, Classical Music Branch Out” — The Toronto Star — A short round up of where to watch concerts, ballet and opera online.

2nd February 2009 — “Latin American Quartet Delights”
9th January 2009 — “Saint-Georges adds flavour to improving Baroque series “
24th November 2008 — “Cellists Show Off Improv Genre”
14th November 2008 — ” Miller Delivers Haydn With Style, Knowledge”
3rd November 2008 — “Oboist Adds To Nota Bene Offering”
27th October 2008 — “Bravo, Aviv’s Shostakovich”

October 2008 — “Body Cavities: An Anatomical Risk Assessment” (pdf) — Aviation Security International

26th September 2008 — “Penderecki Remains Tight Even In Close Confines”
30th September 2008– “The Kid’s Classic Approach” — Nico Muhly concert preview
22nd September 2008 — “Nota Bene Notes Well Violin’s Rise “

2007/08

June — “Religious Clothing And Artefacts: A Guide For Security Screeners.” (pdf) — Aviation Security International

12th May 2008 — “Da Capo Choir Gets It Right”
3rd May 2008 — “Reaching For Nothing Is At Once Imaginative And Confusing “
2nd May 2008 — “Bringing The Back To Baroque Series To A Beautiful Crescendo “
28th April 2008 — “Trio’ss Choice Of Repertoire Not Quite As Balanced As Dinner”
14th April 2008 — “Traditional Organ Pipes Up In Duel With Digital”
4th April 2008 — “Twos Wild At Combined Choirs’ Second Glance”
2nd April 2008 — “All Of The Sudden – Zapp- And They’re Different”
24th March 2008 — “Oft-Neglected Viola Gets Its Day”
10th March 2008 — “Fun Music, Fresh Menu Just Right”
3rd March 2008 — “Collaboration Proves Sonorous”
1st March 2008 — “Black Umfolosi Step It Up” — The Guelph Mercury

29th February 2008 — “Why I Cried When The NY Phil Played Arirang” The Guardian– a response to the NY Philharmonic’s landmark concert in Pyongyang, North Korea.

25th February 2008 — “Chamber Singers Shine In Sacred Odyssey”
20th February 2008 — “Violinist Gilles Apap, KWS mix musical styles for new series” — The Guelph Mercury
4th February 2008 — “Soloists Shine For Grand Phil”
11th January 2008 — “KWS Puts Fine Note On History, Tops With Sweet Birdsong”
31st December 2007 — “Ballet Jörgen’s Nutcracker Showing Wear “
24th December 2007 — “Elora Festival Singers Full Of Christmas Cheer “
17th December 2007 — “The Messiah Time Of Year”
3rd December 2007 — “Nota Bene Handles Handel Authentically”
1st December 2007 — “With players from across UW campus, orchestra lays down a pleasant groove “
19th November 2007 — “Grand Phil’s Youth Choir On To A Good Thing”
15th October 2007 — “WLU Soloists Shine”
25th September 2007 — “Trio Takes Command Of Room’s Emotions “

August — “Passport Fraud: Are You Who You Say You Are?” (pdf) — Aviation Security International

Publications

Canada’s largest newspaper.
Daily circulation 435,000

The most liberal of Britain’s 5 broadsheets and famous for once printing its title as The Grauniad. Daily circulation 360,000

A regional daily published in Guelph, a smallish city in Southern Ontario.
Daily circulation is 15,000.

One of the larger regional dailies west of the GTA.
Daily circulation is 70,000.

Grand Magazine is a lifestyle mag published bi-monthly by the Waterloo Region Record.
Circulation: 20,000

Washington D.C. provider of natural gas. Produces an annual lifestyle magazine called Energy of the City.

Aviation Security International is the trade publication for aviation security workers. It is based in the UK, but the audience is international.

Currently, I write notes for the Royal Northern College of Music in the UK. If your organization is outside of Kitchener-Waterloo and you’re in need of notes, drop me a line and we’ll chat.

A full list of samples is available at The Omniscient Mussel.