BLYTHE SPIRIT posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, November 19th 2008 at 8:14

If you enjoyed seeing and hearing mezzo Stephanie Blythe in Arizona Opera’s production of The Mikado over the weekend, you’ll be happy to hear that Musical America has named her vocalist of the year ...

DTV CONVERSION DRAWS NEAR posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Tuesday, November 18th 2008 at 11:12

As you no doubt know by now, the digital television conversion is coming in February. Unfortunately, not everyone gets it.

REVIEW: LINCOLN CENTER CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY DOWNLOADS posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, November 18th 2008 at 8:56

If you’re enjoying our Thursday broadcasts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, you might be interested in reviews of a couple of the organization’s downloads I wrote for Fanfare magazine ...

PODIUM GARB posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, November 17th 2008 at 8:32

There’s been plenty of talk about how orchestra players should dress on stage, but have you given any thought to what conductors wear in rehearsal?

NPR REINVENTS ITSELF posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Monday, November 17th 2008 at 8:01

NPR once had the connotation of being a bit stodgy at times, but the network seems to understand the future of journalism is the present.

OBAMA/NIELSEN posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, November 14th 2008 at 9:34

This week’s New Yorker cover by Bob Staake is especially striking for the way it blends several common images into an immediately recognizable message, even if that message is a bit hard to articulate. Bear with me, because this post will really be about music, but first look at the image ...

ALT WEEKLIES THRIVE EVEN WITHOUT ME posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, November 13th 2008 at 8:28

Hi! Remember me? Don’t tell me you didn’t notice I was gone. I took a long weekend to spirit my wife away to California to visit friends and guzzle Napa Valley wine. Now I’m back and settled in, but because I was away I didn’t contribute anything to the latest Tucson Weekly, so I won’t even post a link to that publication because why would you want to read it if I’m not in it?

More seriously ...

WEBSITE PLANNING posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Thursday, November 13th 2008 at 7:40

Now that our in-depth election coverage is now an outdated item, the web team (of which I am a part) is working on filling the various AZPM sites with new content.

TAKE OUT THE TRASH posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Friday, November 7th 2008 at 13:41

No, this has nothing to do with politics, it's just a simple reminder that trash pickup days are changing this week.

THE LOST AND THE DEAD posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, November 6th 2008 at 7:41

In the latest Tucson Weekly, I review very good productions of newish plays with local connections ...

CENTRIST MEDIA posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, November 5th 2008 at 8:55

I haven't blogged in the past few days because the temptation has been too great to make some sort of political comment, and this is not a political blog ...

NOT ENOUGH AIR TIME posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Wednesday, November 5th 2008 at 6:39

If you listened to my newscasts this morning and felt like you didn't get ALL the local election results, you're right.

SHELKO VS STAR posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, November 4th 2008 at 8:07

The Arizona Daily Star has been slamming the Rio Nuevo project pretty heavily this year, documenting huge expenditures with few results. Now Greg Shelko, the director of the project, is fighting back with a response to the most recent Star article (now gone from the free part of the Web site). I don't know how much play Shelko's response will get, so I'll post it here (distributed by Ward 1 City Council member Regina Romero) ...

TRACK ELECTION RESULTS posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Tuesday, November 4th 2008 at 6:57

After the polls close, keep in touch with this website for the results.

CD REVIEW: MUSICA SONORA/DIA DE LOS MUERTOS posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, October 31st 2008 at 8:53

The Day of the Dead is upon us, a fine time to call to your attention a CD by the local early-music vocal ensemble Musica Sonora. The group has available a CD recorded during a 2006 concert featuring Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Officium Defunctorum, or Requiem Mass, and it’s a perfect tie-in with Day of the Dead activities in the Spanish-speaking New World ...

GEARING UP FOR THE ELECTION posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Thursday, October 30th 2008 at 11:00

AZPM has special coverage of the election Tuesday night, on both radio and TV.

ADVICE COLUMNS AND CHINESE MENUS posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 30th 2008 at 9:34

Time for links to my latest contributions to the Tucson Weekly...

WHY I'M A MAC posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, October 28th 2008 at 7:43

This has nothing to do with the blog’s usual subjects, except perhaps its broadcasting connection, but this article from that most indispensable publication, The Onion, reports that Microsoft’s notorious bugginess is reaching ever farther ...

NEGATIVE REVIEWS posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, October 28th 2008 at 7:32

The proprietor of Vineography, a wine blog I read, has explained why he rarely writes negative reviews. The world of wine criticism is rather different from that of performing-arts criticism, but there are times when I elect not to review something if the evaluation is going to be negative ...

NED ROREM LIVES! posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, October 27th 2008 at 7:47

Last week, embroiled in radio fundraising, I didn’t have a chance to note the 85th birthday of Ned Rorem, one of America’s finest composers but a fellow perhaps better known as a sometimes disturbingly frank diarist ...

ANOTHER DEADLINE NEARS posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Monday, October 27th 2008 at 7:36

If you have an Early Ballot for the November 4th election and haven't mailed it in yet, time is running out.

OPIE CUNNINGHAM FOR OBAMA posted to Rappaport's Notebook

From the desk of Robert Rappaport on Friday, October 24th 2008 at 7:44

Political endorsement aside, it's great to see some great TV characters reunited.

LOVE'S LABOURS posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 23rd 2008 at 7:27

Last week, I teased you with a positive comment about the new Arizona Repertory Theatre production. Now here’s the review, from this week’s Tucson Weekly ...

THESE FLATS DON'T RUN posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, October 23rd 2008 at 7:26

Pianist Jeremy Denk seems to have been too busy to blog recently, but now he’s back with mandatory reading: he imagines that he can interview Sarah Palin about Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata.

LOIN GIRDING posted to Cue Sheet

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, October 22nd 2008 at 7:32

When I was writing material for a yet-unpublished issue of Fanfare, a few weeks ago, I concluded a review of Cameron Carpenter’s new organ CD with the expression “gird your loins.” Coincidentally, Joe Biden dredged up that archaic turn of phrase in a speech this past weekend. In case you’re curious about the mechanics of loin girding, this article will explain it all to you.