CONCERTO GROSSO CORNUCOPIA

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, March 31st 2009 at 10:22

Here are a couple of Handel concerto grosso reviews I wrote for two different publications a few months ago ...

PLEDGE TO NPR?

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, March 30th 2009 at 7:24

Just as our week-long membership drive gets underway at KUAT-FM, we get news that we may have future fundraising competition from NPR ...

PHOENIX SYMPHONY DISCONTENT

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, March 26th 2009 at 9:33

There’s big trouble brewing in an orchestra to our north ...

IMMORTAL LONGINGS

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, March 26th 2009 at 9:31

Here’s a review of a play in which I get to bring in a reference to music and dancing, too ...

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, March 24th 2009 at 8:31

The Washington Post reports good news about National Public Radio’s growing audience, but bad news about its dwindling budget ...

THE BOO BOX

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, March 23rd 2009 at 10:26

In the Wall Street Journal, Terry Teachout offers this proposal for audiences wishing to express themselves more assertively in this era of obligatory standing ovations ...

TICKETMASTER: SORDID DETAILS

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, March 23rd 2009 at 10:23

Douglas McLennan has looked into the gaping maw of Ticketmaster and its proposed merger with another company, and reports what he has found here. This is what interests me the most ...

DIRTY FINGERS

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, March 19th 2009 at 8:03

My Arizona Public Media colleague Robert Rappaport, one of the few people I know who still dirties his hands with newspapers instead of just browsing news Web sites, has an amusing blog entry showing how desperate the Arizona Daily Star is to get its product into the hands of people like Robert. But aren’t house ads that promote the newspaper merely preaching to the converted?

Meanwhile, National Public Radio personnel will no longer sully their fingers with other news organizations’ ink ...

TUCSON CITIZEN: A PLUG UNPULLED

From the desk of James Reel on Wednesday, March 18th 2009 at 9:12

Contrary to expectations, the Tucson Citizen is not dead yet. With all due respect to the journalists who are now working there on a day-to-day basis, do we really need the Citizen? ...

THE FUTURE (?) OF ARTS JOURNALISM

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, March 17th 2009 at 8:40

Here’s an interesting article about the future of arts journalism—that is, how the arts will be reported on and reviewed in a society in which newspapers either don’t care about such things or don’t exist at all ...

WHERE I'VE BEEN

From the desk of James Reel on Tuesday, March 17th 2009 at 8:39

I’ve been away from the blog and the radio station for a while, occupied with other duties ...

HAIL TO THE NICHE

From the desk of James Reel on Friday, March 6th 2009 at 9:37

Journalist Greg Sandow has spent the past few years blogging for change in the classical music sphere—opening it up, in various ways, to broader culture, and indeed making it more like pop culture. I’ve followed Greg’s arguments with interest for a long time, but in the end, I think his campaign is wrongheaded ...

HARVEST

From the desk of James Reel on Thursday, March 5th 2009 at 7:33

With apologies for the lack of blogging recently—I’m involved in too many projects, and trying to work ahead a little so I can take next week off from KUAT—here is my weekly link to my weekly contribution to the Tucson Weekly. This time, it’s only a restaurant review, but a highly positive one ...

SECRETS OF RADIO FUNDRAISING

From the desk of James Reel on Monday, March 2nd 2009 at 8:54

What are the secret strategies we use in public radio to get you to part with your hard-earned cash? Listener June Thomas has figured out a lot just by listening to pledge breaks, and she fills you in with this analysis published by Slate.