I’m the founder and editor of ArtsJournal, which was founded in September 1999 and aggregates arts and culture news from all over the internet. The site is also home to some 60 arts bloggers. I’m a journalist and critic, and a frequent keynoter and writer about arts and culture and technology.
Prior to starting ArtsJournal I was an arts columnist and music critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I have a Master’s degree in music from the Juilliard School in New York, and for a while was a concert pianist. I have performed in Asia, Europe and North America and lived and worked in Italy and in China, where I spent a year as artist-in-residence at the Central Conservatory in Beijing.
I have written on the arts for numerous publications, including as music critic in the early days of Salon.com, and for Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the London Evening Standard and a contributor to the new edition of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians. I have won several awards for arts criticism and reporting, including a National Arts Journalism Program Fellowship at Columbia University and a Deems Taylor/ASCAP Award for music journalism. I was named one of 100 Outstanding Graduates of the Juilliard School for the school’s centennial. In the spring of 2011 I was on jury duty: for the Pulitzers in the category of criticism; and as press jury chairman for the Van Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 2011/12 I was a visiting professor at Claremont Graduate University in the MBA arts management program. I also worked on arts journalism programs at the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California. I was a member of the producing team for the Spring For Music orchestra festival at Carnegie Hall, and ran digital programs, audience engagement and strategy at the Ojai Music Festival. I consult with a number of arts organizations about changes in culture and technology and audience engagement.
You can contact me at mclennan@artsjournal.com
Follow me on Twitter: @AJDoug