John Rockwell

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John Rockwell (born 1940 in Washington D.C.) is a music critic, editor, and dance critic. He studied at Phillips Academy, Harvard, the University of Munich, and the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Ph.D. in German culture.

Rockwell began his journalistic career at the Oakland Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. In 1972 he began writing at New York Times, first as a classical music critic and reporter, then as the paper's chief pop music critic, and, from 1992 to 1994, as the European cultural correspondent. Between 1994 to 1998, he served as the first director of the Lincoln Center Festival. He returned to the New York Times to become the editor of the paper's Sunday Arts and Leisure section. In 2004 he was named the chief dance critic. He left the Times at the end of 2006 to pursue independent projects.

He lives in Manhattan.

In January 2008, John Rockwell was a Distinguished Visitor at the American Academy in Berlin.

[edit] Radio

On WNYC Radio, Rockwell examines cultural topics and events in the news for his weekly Monday night segment, Rockwell Matters. (Can be heard online.)
Rockwell is interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian on KPFA following the publication of his book “All American Music: Composition of the late 20th Century” 1983

[edit] Books

• All American Music, Knopf (1983) ISBN 0-394-51163-8.
• Sinatra: An American Classic, Random House (1984) ISBN 0-394-53977-X.
• The Idiots, BFI (2003) ISBN 0-85170-955-9.
• Outsider: John Rockwell on the Arts, Limelight (2006) ISBN 0-87910-333-7