Music
Chair: Robert Thicknesse
Hon Secretary: Guy Rickards guy@rickards.net
The aims of the Music Section of the Critics’ Circle are: a) to promote the art of criticism and to uphold its integrity in practice; b) to foster and safeguard the professional interests of its members and to provide opportunities for social intercourse among them; and c) to support the advancement of the arts. Though the Circle is decidedly not a trade union, it tries to encourage best practice.
We meet to discuss and decide bread and butter matters twice a year. We make prestigious yearly awards to up and coming musicians in a variety of categories. Occasionally we host meetings with a leading figure from the music world. We also hold luncheons or dinners to celebrate the lifetime achievement of some very special artist, writer, composer or instrumentalist. The music section has about 91 members. At present, it consists overwhelmingly of classical music and opera critics, though we welcome critics of other kinds of music (jazz, pop, and world music).
News & Reviews
Dame Janet Baker wins Critics’ Circle award for Distinguished Service to the Arts
One of the greatest living stars of British classical music, the mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker CH DBE, was voted the winner of the 2019 Critics' Circle Rosebowl by the 500 members of the Circle. Regrettably both the announcement and the award have been delayed by the...
read moreRobert Layton
Robert — ‘Bob’ — Layton, the celebrated musicologist, author and, for 31 years, a BBC Radio Producer, died on 9th November at the age of 90. He was a member of the Critics’ Circle from 1966. He contributed regularly to a wide variety of publications but as a critic...
read moreBattle of Hastings
For more than a hundred years, pianists have been doing battle in the seaside town of Hastings on the south coast of England. Originally, the competition featured local players in the context of a general music festival but eventually the keyboard section became...
read morePurcell Odes: The English Concert, St John’s Smith Square
Melancholy never seems far away from any concert these days, and the final celebratory piece aside, the English Concert gave us a Purcell programme to milk it. St John’s, completely cleared of furniture, the orchestra luxuriously spaced in the wide-open nave, a very...
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