Allan Kozinn (born July 28, 1954) is an American journalist, music critic, and teacher. Kozinn received bachelor's degrees in music and journalism from Syracuse University in 1976. He began freelancing as a critic and music feature writer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in 1977, and joined the paper's staff in 1991. Before joining the ''Times'', he was a contributing editor to ''High Fidelity'' and ''Keynote'' magazines, and a frequent contributor to ''Guitar Player'', ''Keyboard'', ''Pulse'' and other publications. He was also the first music critic for ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...

''. Kozinn has written a number of books, including ''Guitar: The History, the Music, the Players'' (1984), '' Mischa Elman and the Romantic Style'' (1990), ''The Beatles'' (1995) and ''Classical Music: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings'' (2004). Kozinn joined the faculty of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 2004, where he has taught courses in music criticism, Baroque music literature and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

. He also taught a course in the history of musical interpretation at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

. In September 2012, ''The New York Times'' reassigned Kozinn from his former duties as a classical music critic to general cultural reporting, which caused controversy at the time. In December 2014, Kozinn left the ''Times'', as part of the newspaper's most recent round of layoffs and buyouts. In 2014, Kozinn began working with researcher Adrian Sinclair on '' The McCartney Legacy'', a multi-volume biography of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. Volume 1 was published in December 2022. Kozinn is married to the writer Paula Brochu. The couple resides in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

References

External links

New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, faculty page on Allan Kozinn
American music critics Syracuse University alumni New York University faculty Living people Classical music critics Critics employed by The New York Times 1954 births Place of birth missing (living people) {{US-music-journalist-stub