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Alex Ross

Alex Ross has been The New Yorker’s music critic since 1996. He is the author of “ Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music .”

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14 picks · 1996–2024

Featured Picks

The Shadow
a critic at large ·

Alex Ross on the actor-director of “Citizen Kane” fame, and on the biographies of him.

Mastersinger
profiles ·

How Joyce DiDonato, of Prairie Village, Kansas, conquered opera.

Abba to Zywny
books ·

The newest Grove Dictionary tries to bring it all together.

The Harmonist
profiles ·

PROFILE of contemporary classical Californian composer John Adams, 53. . . Writer compares the juxtapositions in Adams's music to the landscape of …

The Wanderer
a reporter at large ·

Alex Ross on following Bob Dylan on tour and the timelessness of his infamous album “Blood on the Tracks,” which features the song “Tangled Up in Blue.”

The Musical Kaleidoscope
comment ·

Signed comment about musical influences... Something odd occurs toward the end of "Odelay," a new album by the young artist known simply as Beck. As …