Everyone's a Critic

The last night was by far the best night of the three nights of Michael Tilson Thomas & the San Francisco Symphony’s American Maverick concerts.Not that they didn’t perform superbly all three nights with a tight...

The second night of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony play more or less modern more or less American music opened with what I’d call the worst piece of music I’ve ever heard if there were any real...

None of the pieces performed on the first night of the three “American Mavericks” concerts were much good, though the Copland was certainly the best and the Bates was probably the worst.Copland’s Variations for...

I was standing around the third floor of City Hall, staring out the window, waiting for an interview with Mayor Hieftje when I heard two familiar voices behind me talking about rock music from the 70s, and playing records on a...

Near the close of the third quarter in Michigan’s implausible victory over Notre Dame, a cadre of Fighting Irish fans chanted/taunted, “It-sucks, to-be, a Mich-i-gan Wolv-er-ine.” At the moment Notre Dame held...

“So what went wrong?” people have asked me since the news broke that the giant Borders chain has declared bankruptcy. They’re assuming that because I’m a long-time journalist in Ann Arbor, where the chain...

Kim Richey’s show at the Ark on Sunday, October 17, marked a small milestone for people who keep track of such things: it was notable for its thoroughgoing inclusion of electronic sounds, provided by a keyboardist. Richey...

Many people talented in the sciences also play musical instruments. Hence the creation, nine years ago, of the U-M Life Sciences Orchestra. Its eighty-some members include physicians, med and dental students, engineering alums,...