Though this battle for and against new music has been raging for a while now, I still at times secretly wonder why I can't just sit back and enjoy modern music. Is it just me? What am I missing that most people are not? Not that I have any specific beef, but let's take Carter for instance. What makes the rest of the audience burst into applause at the end of a piece while I sit there dumbfounded.

Not that I've found the answer, but I have found an interesting article from the Telegraph, that suggests what I am missing.

So today is December 9. That leaves what? About 15 days left to find presents for everyone on my list. After spending significant time on Amazon, at Macys and other smaller neighborhood stores looking at clothes, movies, and nick-nacks, I'm having a hard time finding something. And then I heard about this.

Now this is a present.

We are very excited to welcome Tim Sawyier, Elliot Mandel and Jesse McQuarters as our newest additions to ChicagoClassicalMusic.org. Through a spirited voter driven contest, these three writers were chosen based on the quality, clarity and competence of writing critical reviews of musical performances. We thank all who took part in this process and are busy working on a new dedicated space strictly for reviews on our main page.

Check back next week for the start of our exciting new layout and exciting new reviews!

What innovations might we see in the future?


Carolyn Paulin, Producer, Program Host, 98.7 WFMT  
Exploring every possible way to make themselves different and more interesting than any other similar organization.  Lots of creativity needed to remain viable and alive.  And I agree that, while web-based media is important and may be the wave of future (or the wave of now), live performance is still the best way to enjoy and savor music.



Dileep Gangolli, Clarinet, Chicago Sinfonietta
More orchestras will use the web to deliver product.  Marketing efforts will be more focused and use the web to better segment the market and at much cheaper costs.

Thanks to all who voted and participated in ChicagoClassicalMusic.org's Public Critic Contest! The voting ended last night, November 15th at midnight.

We recieved over 1350 votes and A LOT of comments! Through this exciting process we now have our 3 winning Public Critics in place and are in the works of setting everything up.

We appreciate all feedback and will continue to improve based on your suggestions. The most important thing is that we continue to communicate and converse among each other about music in Chicago.

Please check back soon to meet our new Public Critics! Thanks!