From 1964 to 1976, Michael Steinberg was the classical music critic of the Boston Globe, writing reviews that were erudite, readable, and outspoken to a degree that could cause consternation: on two occasions, attempts to ban Steinberg from his post drew nationwide attention. Following the Globe, he became a program annotator for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and New York Philharmonic. This April, Oxford University Press is publishing Defending the Music: Michael Steinberg at the Boston Globe, 1964-1976, a 600-page compilation of over 300 selections from his more than 2,000 reviews, essays, features, and interviews for the Boston Globe, including reviews of Boston Symphony concerts and of performances by visiting orchestras, ensembles, and soloists, as well as broad coverage of the musical scene in Boston and beyond. Conceived by Steinberg’s widow, the violinist Jorja Fleezanis, the book was seen to completion, after her death, by Susan Feder (who assisted Steinberg at the San Francisco Symphony and later worked in music publishing and arts funding), Marc Mandel (manager/editor of the BSO program book from 1979 to 2020), and Jacob Jahiel (a doctoral candidate in historical musicology and writer-annotator). Defending the Music is a companion volume to four previous compilations of Steinberg’s program notes and essays published by Oxford University Press. Learn more here.
