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Tim Page (born ''Ellis Batten Page Jr.''; 11 October 1954) is an American writer,
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 ...
, editor, producer and professor who won the 1997
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
for his music criticism for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''.
Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief c ...
, the chief music critic 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 ...
'', has praised Page's criticism for its "extensive knowledge of cultural history, especially literature; the instincts and news sense of a sharp beat reporter; the skills of a good storyteller; infectious inquisitiveness; immunity to dogma; and an always-running pomposity detector". Other notable writings by Page include his biography of the novelist Dawn Powell, which is credited for helping to spark the revival of Powell's work, and a memoir that chronicles growing up with undiagnosed
autism spectrum Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...
disorder.


Biography


Early life and education

Page was born in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
to Elizabeth Latimer Thaxton Page, a homemaker and former journalist, and
Ellis Batten Page Ellis Batten “Bo” Page Ed.D. (April 29, 1924 – May 17, 2005)Potts, Monica (2005, May 23). Ellis Page, 81, Developer of Computerized Grading, obit in the New York ''Times''/ref>"Ellis Page, Computer Grading Developer, Dies". UConn ''Advance'', ...
, a professor of educational psychology. Through his parents' record collection, Page developed an early fascination for music, particularly for the opera singers
Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...
and Geraldine Farrar, and for "music that was nearly changeless, unfolding slowly and inevitably, with few surprises". During their time in San Diego, the family was acquainted with Alan M. Kriegsman, then the music critic for the ''
San Diego Union ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'', and his wife Sali Ann Kriegsman, who lived in Page's grandmother's house. Page credits "Mike" Kriegsman for having an early influence on his desire to write about music: In 1962, Page's father accepted a full professorship at the
University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...
, where he would later help develop a system of grading essays by the computer known as Project Essay Grade (PEG) software. The Page family moved to
Storrs, Connecticut Storrs ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The village is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, ...
; Page lived there until 1975, save a year-long stint from 1969 to 1970, when the family relocated to
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
during Ellis Page's sabbatical. From an early age, Page demonstrated an increasingly encyclopedic knowledge of music and an aptitude to catalogue significant historical names and dates. Page's father used him as his "laboratory of choice" in experiments with
standardized test A standardized test is a Test (assessment), test that is administered and scored in a consistent or standard manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored ...
ing, and eventually began taking Page to his classes to "perform as a burgeoning genius". Page struggled in school even as his musical abilities matured and his interests in literature and film, especially
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
, deepened. He recruited his siblings and classmates in his early efforts in filmmaking; in 1967, Page and his films were the subject of a short documentary by David and Iris Hoffman. ''A Day With Timmy Page'' screened in the 1968
New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...
and as the opening selection of the first Festival of Young Filmmakers in New York. More recently, in 2019 the Echo Park Film Center in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
screened ''A Day With Timmy Page'' along with two of Page's early films. "Prodigies have a tough time of things", Page wrote in his memoir. His own experiences as a child genius, and the extreme praise and ostracism that came with it, influenced his later skepticism for solo careers for child artists and what he has described as "the cult of the prodigy": Despite that, Page was also an early champion of Midori Gotō; he first praised her playing when she was 14 years old and later profiled her when she was 21. Page struggled with depression and anxiety throughout his later teen years: On 20 May 1972, Page was a passenger in a vehicle accident that killed two close friends. He does not drive to this day and attributes his reluctance to do so in part to this accident. Shortly after, Page attended an introductory class in Transcendental Meditation, beginning a lifelong habit of meditation. In 1975, Page returned to the Tanglewood Institute, where he had spent previous summers. There, Page met the musician, teacher, writer and arts administrator Leonard Altman, whom Page credits as his "most significant mentor". Under Altman's guidance, Page moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1975 to enroll at the Mannes School of Music at
The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
. Page attended Mannes for two years, where he studied music composition with Charles Jones. He quickly "decided that ewas more interested in writing prose than in writing music" and transferred to
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. Page dates his first mature piece of criticism to April 1976, when he was moved to write an essay about the world premiere of
Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...
's " Music for 18 Musicians".


Career

Several weeks after graduating from Columbia, Page sent an unsolicited article about the 1979 release of the complete works of
Anton Webern Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...
conducted by
Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...
to the '' SoHo Weekly News''. The paper accepted, published, and paid for the article. "And suddenly", Page writes in his memoir, "I was a music critic." Over the next several years, Page continued writing for the '' SoHo Weekly News'' and other publications while hosting a contemporary music program on the Columbia radio station WKCR. In 1981, he began an 11-year association with WNYC-FM, where he presented an afternoon program that broadcast interviews with composers and musicians, including guests like
Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
, Virgil Thomson,
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
,
Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...
,
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
and
Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordi ...
. Page has become one of the leading writers on the work of the idiosyncratic Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. Page spoke over the phone with Gould for the first time in October 1980; what was supposed to be a brief interview lasted for nearly four hours. Over the next two years, Page and Gould spoke on the phone several times a week. They met only once during a three-day visit Page paid to Gould in Toronto, where the two conducted a one-hour radio drama comparing Gould's two versions of J.S. Bach's '' Goldberg Variations''. This interview was released on the three-CD set ''A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981'' in 2002. Page edited the first collection of Gould's writings, ''The Glenn Gould Reader'', in 1984, which has never gone out of print. Page was a music writer and culture reporter at ''
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 ...
'' from 1982 to 1987; in 1987, he became the chief music critic of ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
''. He was the chief classical music critic of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' 1995–2008, and in 1997 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for what the Pulitzer board called his "lucid and illuminating music criticism;" the preceding year he had written on subjects that included the decline of classical music recordings and the position of the violin section in the orchestra. Page has also written widely on film and literature for the ''Post'' and elsewhere. In 1991, Page became fascinated by the work of the then-obscure novelist Dawn Powell. He wrote ''Dawn Powell: A Biography'', published in 1998; he also edited and annotated the
Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...
's two-volume collection of Powell's work, which was published in 2001. He has helped launch revivals of the writings of Sigrid Undset and Robert Green Ingersoll, and he wrote an appreciation of the late singer-songwriter Judee Sill, whom Page considers to be "an artist of extraordinary gifts." Other writings have praised the musical contributions of
The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. The band is named after the André B ...
and
The High Llamas The High Llamas are an Anglo-Irish chamber pop band formed in London circa 1991. They were founded by singer-songwriter Sean O'Hagan, formerly of Microdisney, with drummer Rob Allum and ex-Microdisney bassist Jon Fell. O'Hagan has led the group ...
. Page has resisted differentiating between the musical merits of classical music and other genres, writing that: In 1993, Page served as the first executive producer for the short-lived record label BMG Catalyst. His projects included ''Spiked'', an album of music by
Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment wer ...
with liner notes by
Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...
; ''Memento Bittersweet'', an album of music by Chris DeBlasio, Kevin Oldham, Lee Gannon and other HIV-positive composers; ''Night of the Mayas'', the first American album devoted entirely to orchestral works by the Mexican composer
Silvestre Revueltas Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez (December 31, 1899 – October 5, 1940) was a Mexican classical music composer, a violinist, and conductor. Life Revueltas was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Conservatory of Mu ...
; two solo recital discs by violinist Maria Bachmann and several others. Page has also produced concerts at venues ranging from
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
to New York's Mudd Club. From 1999 to 2000, he served as the artistic advisor and creative chair for the
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...
. In November 2007, Page replied to an unsolicited press release about former Washington mayor
Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Barr ...
's views concerning a hospital. The e-mail read: "Must we hear about it every time this crack addict attempts to rehabilitate himself with some new – and typically half-witted – political grandstanding? ... I cannot think of anything the useless Marion Barry could do that would interest me in the slightest, up to and including overdose." Page apologized and called it the stupidest thing he'd done in journalism. He has continued to write regularly for the Post without respite. In 2007, the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
named Page a professor of journalism and music. He taught at USC until 2019; while there, he helped launch the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism's master's degree program in specialized journalism. Page has been a member of the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism since its founding in 2012, and in 2015, he was appointed "Visiting Scholar in Residence" at
Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
. In 2020, Page retired from USC and moved back to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Later that year, he embarked on a six-month tour of the Balkan countries. In May 2021, the Peabody Conservatory announced that Page is to be a visiting professor as of the autumn of 2021.


Autism spectrum disorder

Page revealed in a 2007 essay for ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' that seven years earlier he had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, "in the course of a protracted effort to identify — and, if possible, alleviate — my lifelong unease." The essay led to the publication of his book-length memoir '' Parallel Play'', published by Doubleday in September 2009. In a review 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 ...
'', Janet Maslin wrote that the book is "not about Asperger's, but it is intensified by the peculiar nature of Mr. Page's Asperger-governed perceptions. Tirelessly logical, sometimes agonizingly so, he lives life in an extra dimension, with a sense of time that irrevocably links past and present, living and dead, ardent love affairs and broken ones." Page has written that he "wouldn't wish the condition on anybody — I've spent too much of my life isolated, unhappy, and conflicted — yet I am also convinced that many of the things I've done were accomplished not despite my Asperger's syndrome but ''because'' of it."


Traumatic brain injury and recovery

In 2015, Page collapsed at a train station in
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...
, having had an acute subdural hematoma, or a clot of blood that puts pressure on the brain. Disabled at first, he took medical leave from USC for the better part of a year. Gradually he recovered, a process that he attributes to listening deeply to music that had comforted him throughout his life. He has written that despite his injury he has "enjoyed some of the best years of my life – pacing myself carefully, seeing people when I can, teaching once more and even writing a bit".


Selected bibliography

* ''The Hip Pocket Guide to New York'' (Harper and Row, 1982). Editor. * ''The Glenn Gould Reader'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 1984). Editor. * ''Selected Letters of Virgil Thomson, with Vanessa Weeks Page'' (Summit Books, 1988). Editor. * ''William Kapell: An Illustrated Life History of the American Pianist'' (International Piano Archives at Maryland, 1992). Author. * ''Music From The Road: Views and Reviews 1978–1992'' (Oxford University Press, 1992). Anthology of previously published work. * ''Dawn Powell at Her Best'' (Steerforth Press, 1994). Editor. * ''The Diaries of Dawn Powell: 1931–1965'' (Steerforth Press, 1995). Discovered, edited and annotated Powell's diaries. * ''Dawn Powell: A Biography'' (Henry Holt, 1998). Author. * ''Selected Letters of Dawn Powell'' (Henry Holt, 1999). Editor. * ''Dawn Powell: Novels 1930–1942 and Dawn Powell: Novels 1944–1962'' (Library of America, 2001). Editor. * ''The Unknown Sigrid Undset'' (Steerforth, 2001). Editor. * ''Glenn Gould: A Life In Pictures'' (Random House, 2002). Author. * ''Tim Page on Music'' (Amadeus Press, 2002). Collection of previously published work. * ''"What's God Got to Do With It?": Robert Ingersoll on Free Thought, Honest Talk and the Separation of Church and State'' (Steerforth Press, 2005). Editor. * ''Parallel Play: Growing Up With Undiagnosed Asperger's'' (Doubleday, 2009; reissued in 2010 with changes) * ''Carnegie Hall Treasures'' (HarperCollins, 2011) * ''Virgil Thomson: Music Chronicles'' (Library of America, 2014). Editor.


References


External links


An Interview with Pulitzer-Winner Tim Page on Living with Asperger's
(2007)
Hour long radio interview
with Doug Fabrizio, KUER-FM, on Asperger's Syndrome *
"Reflections on a Life Lived Way Outside the Box"
''The New York Times'', September 2, 2009
BACH & friends documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Tim 1954 births American literary critics American male biographers American male journalists American writers with disabilities American classical music critics Columbia College (New York) alumni The New York Times journalists Journalists from Baltimore Living people Opera critics People from Storrs, Connecticut People with Asperger syndrome Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners Radio personalities from New York City SoHo Weekly News people The Washington Post people Autistic writers