Melinda Bargreen, classical music critic in Seattle for the past 30 years, has accepted a buy-out from the Seattle Times as part of a restructuring of the paper’s staff. You can read her last column here.
Now read this blog entry by our lone full-time classical music critic here in Portland, David Stabler of the Oregonian. I’d be tempted to say that it sounds like we might lose our classical music critic sooner rather than later, too. The question to be asked might be, is the paper cutting staff or has Stabler just burned out on covering a growing music scene? Every critic has his/her own supporters and detractors, and that’s certainly the case with Stabler, but he has, until lately, done an excellent job of writing articles that keep the arts front and center in the consciousness of the city, and which have provoked a lot of lively discussion.
I hope that it’s just a moment of end-of-season ennui on his part, because Portland’s arts organizations are struggling enough as it is without having to worry about losing coverage in the state’s largest daily newspaper.