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Pulitzer Prize-winning critic to write for Spoleto

By Stephanie Harvin/The Post and Courier
Sunday, April 20, 2008

One of the world’s most respected critics in classical music will be The Post and Courier’s new overview writer for this year’s Spoleto Festival USA.

Tim Page, former music critic for The Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize winner, will write a combination of arts criticism, impressions and musings of the festival each day.

A music producer, teacher and critic, he brings the best of arts journalism experience to the job. He was cited as one of the most influential people in the world of U.S. opera by Opera News in 2006, not only for his writings but for his support of other critics.

He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism as the chief music critic for The Washington Post from 1995 to 2008. As part of his job with the Post, he was responsible for all aspects of classical music coverage.

Page has had his brushes with controversy. His over-the-top response to a mass mailing from an aide to D.C. Councilman and former Washington Mayor Marion Barry drew criticism when he called Barry a “crack addict.” Page later apologized for his outburst.

Page just joined the faculty of the University of Southern California, where he is teaching arts journalism and criticism.

In 2007, he wrote candidly in The New Yorker about his life with Asperger’s syndrome, offering a poignant profile of a lifelong struggle with his own thinking process. He is working on a book on the subject scheduled to be published by Doubleday in 2009. Asperger’s syndrome is an autismlike disorder often characterized by difficulties with social interactions and a preoccupation with a single interest.

Prior to his experience with the Post, Page served as the chief music critic for Newsday and as a critic and cultural correspondent for The New York Times.

From 1981 until 1992, he was the host of a program devoted to new and unusual music on WNYC-FM in New York. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including “The Glenn Gould Reader,” “Tim Page on Music” and “Dawn Powell: A Biography.”

As a producer, he founded BMG Catalyst, a record label for new music. Its widely and favorably reviewed recordings include “Spiked,” an album of music by Spike Jones; “Memento Bittersweet,” an album of music by Chris DeBlasio, Kevin Oldham, Lee Gannon and other HIV-positive composers; and “Night of the Mayas,” the first CD devoted entirely to orchestral works by Silvestre Revueltas, Mexico’s leading composer. Page has been a contributor to National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition,” American Public Media’s “Performance Today,” BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Voice of America. He has appeared on “ABC World News Tonight” and “ABC Nightline,” “NBC Nightly News” “CBS Sunday Morning” and PBS’ “Firing Line.”

“We are extremely fortunate to have Tim joining our staff for Spoleto this year. His observations will really complement our coverage,” says Post and Courier Managing Editor Steve Mullins. “Tim is no stranger to controversy, but I don’t know anyone who could question his qualifications. I believe he is brilliant in the same sharp-edged, sometimes biting way as the late Robert Jones, who wrote Spoleto reviews for us for years. The entire arts staff is eager to work with him.”