Alex Ross
Alex Ross is a prominent American music critic known for his insightful contributions to classical music discourse, particularly through his work with The New Yorker. Born on December 1, 1968, in Washington, DC, Ross cultivated a deep appreciation for music during his education at Harvard University, where he studied under composer Peter Lieberson and gained experience as a radio disc jockey. His critically acclaimed book, *The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century*, published in 2007, won several awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible examination of twentieth-century classical music, effectively challenging the perception of classical music as outdated.
Ross continued to gain recognition with his second book, *Listen to This*, published in 2010, which explores the cultural significance of both classical and popular music. His writings often intersect with social issues, as seen in his 2012 New Yorker article discussing the gay rights movement and his own experiences. In 2020, he released *Wagnerism*, which delves into the cultural ramifications of the composer Richard Wagner's legacy. Ross's contributions have not only established him as a leading voice in music criticism but have also inspired events like the *Rest Is Noise* festival, celebrating the intersection of music, history, and culture. He is also known for his advocacy for the vibrancy of classical music in contemporary society, demonstrating its relevance alongside popular music genres. Ross lives in Manhattan with his husband, actor and director Jonathan Lisecki.
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Subject Terms
Alex Ross
Writer
- Born: December 1, 1968
- Place of Birth: Washington, DC
Contribution: Alex Ross is an American music critic known for his contributions to the New Yorker and his passion for classical music. Ross’s 2007 book The Rest Is Noise won the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Background
Alex Ross was born in Washington, DC, on December 1, 1968. He attended the prestigious St. Albans private school for boys in Washington, DC, for eight years, beginning in grade four. In 1986, he enrolled at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During his time at Harvard, Ross studied under renowned American composer and then-faculty member Peter Lieberson. Ross also spent time as a radio disc jockey for Harvard’s WHRB station, where he produced music programs in both classical music and underground rock genres.
Ross graduated from Harvard summa cum laude in 1990 with a bachelor of arts degree in English. He presented his undergraduate thesis on the Irish author James Joyce.
Career
In 1992, Ross became a music critic for the New York Times, covering all genres and styles of music. During his early professional writing career, Ross was also a contributing music writer and critic for the London Review of Books, Slate magazine, and the New Republic.
The following year, Ross made his first contribution to the New Yorker with a piece titled “Grand Seductions,” a critical analysis of Wayne Koestenbaum’s book The Queen’s Throat: Opera, Homosexuality, and the Mystery of Desire, an analysis on the vast impact of opera in homosexual culture. Ross would become a staff writer for the New Yorker in 1996, primarily contributing reviews of classical works and composers, in addition to surveying and offering critical analyses of books on the genre.
Ross’s debut book The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, was published in October 2007 to effusive critical praise. The book offers a detailed yet approachable historical analysis of classical music of the twentieth century, highlighting both major works and lesser-known composers. The title The Rest Is Noise was chosen by Ross as a play on the final words of the titular character of Shakespeare’s Hamlet—“the rest is silence”—and is intended to dispel the notion of the devolvement of classical music given the rise of other popular genres throughout the century.
The book’s critical and commercial success elevated Ross as one of the world’s preeminent writers on classical music and earned him several awards. The Rest Is Noise won the year’s National Book Critics Circle Award, the Premio Napoli, and the Grand Prix des Muses, and it was a 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist for general nonfiction. The book was also named one of the top ten books of the year by the New York Times and received the Guardian First Book Award. In 2008, Ross was named a MacArthur fellow for his work in music criticism and analysis.
In 2010, Ross published his second book, Listen to This, a showcase of his premier contributions spanning more than a decade of work for the New Yorker. In this book, Ross opines on the social and cultural impact of society on both classical composers well as popular rock artists. The book draws its title from a 2004 New Yorker piece of the same name, in which Ross bemoans the term “classical music” as a phrase that eternally entraps orchestral and symphonic music in the past.
In its November 12, 2012, issue the New Yorker also published a notable article by Ross entitled “Love on the March.” In it, Ross discusses the progress of the gay rights movement in the United States and ongoing issues including marriage equality. In it, Ross also reflects on his own experience as a gay American, noting that he came to terms with his sexuality in the 1980s.
Both The Rest Is Noise and Listen to This established Ross as a preeminent force in casting off the refined, stodgy reputation with which contemporary music fans have long regarded classical music. The books attempt to illuminate classical music as equally exciting, controversial, and emotionally viable as any popular contemporary music genre. Ross has continued to explore this subject in his blog, also titled The Rest Is Noise.
In 2020, Ross published Wagnerism, his third book. Wagnerism explores the cultural impact of the famous composer's works and legacy.
Impact
Alex Ross has established himself as one of the world’s preeminent writers on music with his ability to utilize deft but approachable prose to connect musical genres with previous epochs of history. As an expert classical music scholar who has remained in tune with recent trends in popular music, Ross is able to connect the vast history of classical composers with contemporary social and cultural trends.
Inspired by Ross’s The Rest Is Noise, a year-long festival of the same name was planned to take place at London’s Southbank Centre in 2013. The festival’s program, led by artistic director Jude Kelly, features approximately one hundred events, including orchestral concerts, films, and lectures that celebrate twentieth-century music through the lens of history. Topics range from such topics as Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity to the influence of jazz on classical music, artists of the Cold War era, and more. While Ross was not involved in planning the festival, he did sign on as one of its lecturers.
Personal Life
Ross married actor and director Jonathan Lisecki at a ceremony in Toronto, Ontario, in 2006. They live in Manhattan.
Bibliography
“Alex Ross: Music Critic.” MacArthur Fellows Program. MacArthur Foundation, 27 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 July 2013.
Baldwin, Rosencrans. “Talking with Alex Ross.” Morning News. Morning News, 7 Sept. 2004. Web. 25 July 2013.
Bonanos, Christopher. “You’ll Happily Be Taken along for the Ride.” Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 7 Nov. 2007. Web. 25 July 2013.
Conrad, Peter. "Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross - Review." The Guardian, 6 Sept. 2020, www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/06/wagnerism-art-and-politics-in-the-shadow-of-music-by-alex-ross-review. Accessed 24 Sept. 2024.
Ganz, Jacob. “Get to Know a Critic: Alex Ross.” Record. NPR Music, 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 25 July 2013.
“The Q&A: Alex Ross: Make Some Noise.” Prospero. Economist, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 July 2013.
“Twentieth-Century Music: Notes and Noise.” Prospero. Economist, 12 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 July 2013.