In the very early 1990s I talked Joel Flegler into letting me write Fanfare columns on upcoming releases and laser discs (which quickly went the way of the 8-track). Within a few years I gave up those columns and instead began contributing features on artists and labels, all the while refusing to review CDs: my shelves were already sagging with excess “product.” With the advent of SACDs, though, I volunteered to review releases in the new format. Within that category I’m a generalist, although for some reason Joel has gotten it into his head that I like Bruckner and organ music. I may be the only Fanfare critic who does not contribute to the annual Want List, because, frankly, I don’t want much.

In other compartments of my life, I’m the weekday morning announcer for KUAT-FM, Tucson, where I also blog about radio and the arts. In print, I’m the arts editor of the Tucson Weekly (for which I mainly review plays) and contributing editor to Strings magazine. As a freelance writer, I’ve appeared regularly in the online All Classical Guide, among other venues. I have also covered border issues for Salon.com, the National Catholic Reporter, and Sojourners, and I frequently give pre-performance talks for such organizations as the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music (of which I am the vice-president).

At the Arizona Daily Star, I was the arts and entertainment editor from 1995 to 1999; previously, I was that newspaper’s classical music critic. Before that, I toiled at KUAT radio from 1976 to 1988, ending up as music director. I am the author of The Timid Soul’s Guide to Classical Music (available online) and the mercifully out-of-print guidebook CitySmart: Tucson (Avalon/John Muir Publications).