Monday, April 14, 2008

LA Weekly dumps classical music critic Alan Rich

Last Thursday (April 10th) Musical America reported that the LA Weekly fired Alan Rich, one of the most highly regarded classical music critics in the US. Here are some excerpts from the article, written by Susan Elliott:

"The newspaper, which will discontinue regular classical music coverage, is among the 16 outlets owned by Village Voice Media, which earlier this month “laid off” the staff film and dance critics from its flagship, The Village Voice.

Rich was fired on Monday at the age of 83. He has written a regular column for LA Weekly for 16 years titled “A Lot of Night Music.” His last column will be the week of April 24. He says he will launch a website, “So I’ve Heard,” named after his latest book, “So I’ve Heard: Notes of a Migratory Music Critic,” published in 2006 by Amadeus Press.

Rich was pre-med at Harvard before “succumbing” to writing about music, for, among other outlets, the Boston Herald, Musical America, The New York Times and the New York Herald-Tribune. From 1968-1981 he served as classical critic for New York magazine; from 1984-88 he held that same job with Newsweek; the following year he moved west and became chief critic for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, a post he held until 1992, when he joined LA Weekly."

LA Observed talked to Rich about his dismissal from the LA Weekly.

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