James R. Oestreich
{{short description|American music critic}}
James Ruben Oestreich (born 1943) is a classical music critic for The New York Times, where he has written about music since 1989. He grew up in Wisconsin.
Career
Oestreich has held earlier posts as music critic at American Record Guide, editor of High Fidelity (1979–1983), and founder-editor of Opus, a magazine of classical music record reviews."The Right Place at the Write Time – Orchestra Annotator Facing a New Opus", The Plain Dealer, section C, p. 1, October 24, 1988
=Music Critics Association=
In November 1981, while working at High Fidelity magazine, Oestreich served on the faculty of the Music Critics Association's summer institute in Pittsburgh held in conjunction with a three-program British music festival given by the Pittsburgh Orchestra under André Previn."Music Critics Association Announces Next Institute", The Plain Dealer, July 5, 1981 He has since served as a panelist at annual conferences held by the association.
=Departure from ''High Fidelity''=
In 1983, most of the senior music critics at High Fidelity and Musical America – including Harris Goldsmith (born 1936), Dale Harris (1928–1996), Andrew Porter, Will Crutchfield, Paul Henry Lang, Allan Kozinn, Peter G. Davis (born 1936), Kenneth Furie (born 1949), David Peter Hamilton (born 1935), Robert P. Morgan (born 1934), and Conrad L. Osborne (born 1934) – resigned in protest over a reduction of autonomy for Oestreich, their music editor, who had been informed by the parent company that the classical music section was going to be reduced from an average of 18 pages per issue to 8 pages by January 1984, and further reduced to 1 or 2 pages by December 1984.
On behalf of the parent company, ABC Leisure Magazines of ABC Publishing, William Tynan explained that they were going to "blend lengthy classical features into its highly acclaimed Musical America," a slim magazine sewn into the centerfold of selected issues of High Fidelity and available only by subscription. Musical America, at the time, had a circulation of about 20,000 subscribers. High Fidelity had a circulation of nearly 400,000. Tynan said that High Fidelity{{'}}s average reader "no longer prefers the lengthy classical music articles that have appeared as part of the previous format."[https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/05/arts/music-editor-dismissed.html "Music Editor Dismissed"] by Tim Page, The New York Times, October 5, 1983
=Founding of ''Opus''=
A year later (1984), many of those critics became the core review staff for a start-up classical record magazine Opus, with Oestreich as editor. The magazine, a bi-monthly, ran for four years. Historical Times, Inc., of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the publisher. Warren B. Syer (1923–2007), who had published High Fidelity for 30 years, was president of Historical Times."Enjoy a Tuesday Musical Bonus", Seattle Daily Times, p. D 13, November 1, 1984
=Program annotator for the Cleveland Orchestra=
While filling in as interim editor of the Arts and Leisure section of The New York Times in September 1988, Oestreich accepted a position as program annotator for the Cleveland Orchestra."Musicians of Note", The Plain Dealer, p. 11-G, September 14, 1988 He succeeded Klaus George Roy (1924–2010), who had held the post for 30 years, and was succeeded by Peter G. Laki (born 1954), a musicologist, teacher, and singer."Kind Words for the Music", The Plain Dealer, October 11, 1990
=''The New York Times''=
Oestreich left his post with the Cleveland Orchestra in March 1989 to accept a permanent position as editor of arts and leisure for The New York Times. He served in this position until accepting a buyout offer in January 2013, reported as retirement from full-time work for the paper.{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2013/01/25/169973865/classical-crib-sheet-top-5-stories-this-week | title=Classical Crib Sheet: Top 5 Stories This Week |publisher=National Public Radio| author=Anastasia Tsioulcas | date=2013-01-25 | access-date=2015-08-13}} He occasionally contributes pieces to the Times as of April 2020.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/arts/music/bach-coronavirus.html|title=Critic's Notebook: Bach in My Heart, and My Heart in His Hands|work=The New York Times|author=James R. Oestreich|date=2020-04-09|access-date=2020-08-18}}
Education
- 1965 – University of Wisconsin – philosophy, Phi Beta Kappa[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/UW/UW-idx?id=UW.UWYearBk1966 "Phi Beta Kappa", University of Wisconsin Badger (yearbook), p. 156 (1966)]
- 1970s – {{frac|9|1|2}} years of non-performance coursework at Juilliard and the Mannes School of Music
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.nytimes.com/by/james-r-oestreich Articles by Oestreich] at The New York Times
- {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0001792407}}
- {{Twitter|oestreichj}}
{{portal bar|Biography|Classical music}}
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Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:American music journalists
Category:The New York Times journalists
Category:American classical music critics
Category:University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Category:20th-century American journalists
Category:American male journalists
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American journalists