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Unanswered Question

Joe Horowitz on music

Joe Horowitz

What’s An Orchestra For? – Mulling Salonen’s Resignation and a Dispiriting San Francisco Sequel 

August 24, 2025 by Joe Horowitz 2 Comments

Esa-Pekka Salonen Among my most-read blogs is “What’s An Orchestra For?" – Mulling Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Resignation from the San Francisco Symphony.” I posted it on March 26, 2024, and it still attracts readers practically every day. The topic is the abrupt departure of a genuine music director propagating a tangible and timely artistic vision. I wrote that this … [Read more...] about What’s An Orchestra For? – Mulling Salonen’s Resignation and a Dispiriting San Francisco Sequel 

Re-Encountering George Kennan — and “From the River to the Sea!”

August 17, 2025 by Joe Horowitz 1 Comment

I felt impelled to write the long essay that follows after discovering Frank Costigliola's acclaimed new biography of George Kennan. The initial topic is "the most extreme display of public effrontery I have ever encountered" -- Kennan excoriating my fellow students at Swarthmore College in 1967, then refusing to take questions. My eventual topic is today's students, whom I … [Read more...] about Re-Encountering George Kennan — and “From the River to the Sea!”

Remembering Leopold Stokowski

July 28, 2025 by Joe Horowitz 2 Comments

Last Friday’s “Wall Street Journal” carried my review of a new memoir by Nancy Shear: "I Knew the Man Who Knew Brahms." Its central topic is Leopold Stokowski, whom Shear knew intimately for decades. I write in part: One of the most annoying claims ever uttered by a symphonic conductor came from the lips of Riccardo Muti in 2017. “The level of orchestras in the world has … [Read more...] about Remembering Leopold Stokowski

Alfred Brendel (1931-2025)

July 20, 2025 by Joe Horowitz Leave a Comment

In the wake of the death of the pianist Alfred Brendel on June 16, I notice a sharp uptick in viewers of my 2016 "Wall Street Journal" review of Brendel's collected writings, my main interest being Brendel and Franz Schubert. I reproduce an excerpt from my review below. You can read the whole thing here: In the Schubert essays here collected, Mr. Brendel hones a metaphor … [Read more...] about Alfred Brendel (1931-2025)

Rediscovering Harry Burleigh — via Sidney Outlaw

July 18, 2025 by Joe Horowitz Leave a Comment

When my wife and I heard Sidney Outlaw sing Harry Burleigh’s “Till I Wake” a few years ago, we both discovered ourselves weeping. The song was not new to me – but Sidney’s performance was a revelation. Not long after, he recorded “Till I Wake,” with the pianist Warren Jones, in concert at the Brevard Music Festival -- and it’s now on youtube (above). Burleigh is a … [Read more...] about Rediscovering Harry Burleigh — via Sidney Outlaw

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About Joe Horowitz

Joseph Horowitz is an award-winning author, concert producer, film-maker, broadcaster, and pianist/composer. He is one of the most prominent and widely published writers on topics in American music. As an orchestral administrator and advisor, he has been a pioneering force in the development of … [more] about Joseph Horowitz

About Unanswered Question

When a few years ago Doug McLennan invited me to write an ArtsJournal blog, I thought about it and said no. Having been born as long ago as 1948, I remain somewhat a stranger to the internet. And, as I am always writing a book (a form of therapy) when I am not producing concerts, I felt I didn't … [more] about The Unanswered Question

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  • Shaun Greenleaf on What’s An Orchestra For? – Mulling Salonen’s Resignation and a Dispiriting San Francisco Sequel 
  • William McClelland on What’s An Orchestra For? – Mulling Salonen’s Resignation and a Dispiriting San Francisco Sequel 
  • desain on Re-Encountering George Kennan — and “From the River to the Sea!”
  • Larry Fried on Remembering Leopold Stokowski
  • Mark N. Grant on Remembering Leopold Stokowski

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