Bernard Zuel (born 1965) is an Australian

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. Zuel wrote for

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

newspapers ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' and ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' from 1992 to 2017. He became their senior music writer and reviewer. Zuel is a judge of the

Australian Music Prize The Australian Music Prize (often shortened to the AMP) is an annual award of $50,000 ($30,000 from 2005 to 2023) given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The award was ...

award. At the end of June 2017 he left Fairfax Media to become a freelance journalist and also taught music journalism.

Early life and education

Bernard Zuel was born in 1965

Rose Hill Rose Hill may refer to: People * Rose Hill (actress) (1914–2003), British actress * Rose Hill (athlete) (born 1956), British wheelchair athlete Film * ''Rose Hill'' (film), a 1997 movie Places Australia * Rose Hill, New South Wales * Rose ...

, Mauritius. In the late 1960s, with his family – father Cyril, mother Irlande and two younger siblings – he relocated to Australia and settled in Sydney. Bernard attended

Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield (abbreviated as PBCF) is an independent Roman Catholic comprehensive single-sex secondary day school for boys, located in Fairfield, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded ...

. In the podcast ''Penmanship'' (2016), Zuel told Andrew McMillen how he wrote his first review when he was 20 years old on

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

's ''

Fables of the Reconstruction ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' (or ''Reconstruction of the Fables'') is the third studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released on June 10, 1985, through I.R.S. Records. It was the band's first album recorded outside ...

'' (1985), which he submitted to street press. He was surprised to find it was published and worked for street press before he got a job as a general news reporter at '' The Penrith Press''. He worked there for a few years before starting at ''

'' in 1992, where he became the senior music writer and reviewer. Zuel regularly talks music on ABC local radio and appears on ''The Right Note''. After 25 years at ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', he left in June 2017 to become a freelance journalist at his website and to teach

music journalism Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary o ...

References

External links

* *
"Interview: Bernard Zuel looks back on his career with Fairfax Media"

2SER 2SER is a not-for-profit radio station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, broadcasting on the frequency 107.3 FM. It is operated by Sydney Educational Broadcasting Ltd, and co-funded by two Universities, University of Technology Sydney and Ma ...

, 15 June 2017
"Kate, Elvis, PJ and me: 25 years, and more, of a love affair with music"
30 June 2017, ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Zuel, Bernard 1965 births Living people People educated at Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield Australian music journalists Australian people of Mauritian descent The Sydney Morning Herald people