Raymond Ericson (June 26, 1915 – December 30, 1997) was an American

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

who wrote articles for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' for 30 years.

Life and career

Born in Brooklyn, Ericson earned an associate degree in mathematics from North Park Junior College in Chicago in 1934, and then earned bachelor's degrees in mathematics and music from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. In the late 1930s he worked as an associate music and drama critic for ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...

''. He served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

(USAAC) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1939-1942. After the USAAC was disbanded in March 1942, Ericson moved back to Brooklyn where he obtained the post of organist and choir director of the Pilgrim Covenant Church. He also worked as press agent for a theatrical production company in Manhattan. In 1949 he became a staff writer at ''

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online magazine, online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. ...

'', and was later promoted to position of managing editor at that magazine in the mid-1950s. In 1960 he left that job to join the music editorial staff at ''

'' where he first worked as the editor of the Sunday recordings page. He quickly began writing music criticism for the newspaper as well; eventually writing the weekly news column ''Music Notes'' as well as additional feature articles and concert and record reviews. He retired in 1981, but continued to do freelance work for ''The New York Times'' up until 1990 when he suffered a debilitating stroke. Ericson lived in retirement in

Sherman, Connecticut Sherman is the northernmost and least populous town of Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,527 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. The town was formed in 1802 from t ...

with his life partner Frank Milburn. He died in 1997 at the age of 82 at

Danbury Hospital Danbury Hospital is a 456-bed hospital in Danbury, Connecticut serving patients in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, and New Haven County, Connecticut as well as Westchester County, New York, Putnam County, New Y ...

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ericson, Raymond 1915 births 1997 deaths American music critics American LGBTQ musicians American LGBTQ writers The New York Times journalists North Park University alumni Musicians from Brooklyn University of Chicago alumni 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers People from Sherman, Connecticut 20th-century American LGBTQ people