Alex Ross Wins MacArthur

Music critic Alex Ross ’90 has just been named a MacArthur Fellow for his encyclopedic first book...

Music critic Alex Ross ’90 has just been named a MacArthur Fellow. Ross is a regular columnist for the New Yorker and his encyclopedic first book, The Rest Is Noise, chronicles twentieth-century music from Gustav Mahler to John Cage. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism and made numerous best-of-the-year lists, including those of the New York Times and Washington Post. In awarding him the fellowship, the foundation said:

"In an era when many proclaim the imminent demise of concert halls due to waning attendance, Ross offers both highly specialized and casual readers new ways of thinking about the music of the past and its place in our future."

Read more about Ross and his criticism in this article from the July-August 2008 issue of Harvard Magazine.

You might also like

On the Margins

Filmmaker John Armstrong’s “outdoor adventures” find the human spirit.

Pony Plunges

Scrapbooking a woman who rode horses into the sea

Faith through Film

The “Accidental Talmudist” on making Jewish movies

Most popular

Michael Velchik: “Of a Gate to Harvard Yard”

Latin oration at Harvard Commencement 2012

Harvard, government present arguments in funding case

Judge questions relationship between antisemitism charges and grant cancellations.

The Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Explore More From Current Issue

Garber, Trump, and the Fight for Harvard’s Future

Introducing a guide to the issues, players, and stakes.

Can an Orange a Day Stave off Depression?

A research study digs into the gut microbiome.