SITE-SEEING

posted by James Reel

    Alan Campbell, the morning (sometimes afternoon) man at KUAT-FM for nearly 10 years starting in the mid 1990s, stopped by this blog last week, e-mailed a hello and conveyed his regards to his former listeners. Since he retired, Alan has been more than a warm glow on an old vacuum tube; he’s one of the people who founded MUSIClassical.com, a very interesting site with way more features than I’ve ever had time to explore.
    There you’ll find, among other delights, lists galore of classical holiday pieces, nicknames of compositions, recommended recordings and much more; links to purveyors of music books, sheet music and video and audio recordings; and a connection to an online discussion group “for lovers of classical music, broadcasters, composers, musicians, publicists, retailers, listeners and promoters of independent classical music.” It’s billed as a “forum for ideas and dialog supporting the independent classical music industry. You may post articles, comments, charts, new choice classical recordings, releases of new classical compact discs, tours etc.”
    I check two of the site’s features daily. First, the almanac, a day-by-day listing of birthdays, death dates, first-performance anniversaries and the like. (There’s way more information here about justifiably obscure, long-dead singers than most people really need, considering the sketchier details provided for composers and instrumentalists, but who am I to criticize somebody’s private passion?) Second is the page of links to classical-music news items and features, including many pieces that slip right by the valuable ArtsJournal.com.
    That should get you started. Now explore the site on your own, but be prepared to linger a while.