Meet the Press:
Journalists on Music

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
Curtis Institute of Music
1726 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA

Moderator: Greg Sandow (The Wall Street Journal, NewMusicBox)
Panel: Daniel Webster (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Nekesa Mumbi Moody (Associated Press), and Benjamin Ratliff (The New York Times)

This roundtable discussion convened four prominent journalists who represent a broad range of music interests. They shared their views on the journalist’s role in shaping public perception of musical programming and practice, and on current trends in national arts coverage and criticism.

Greg Sandow has written about classical and pop music for the Wall Street Journal, the Village Voice, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, and Entertainment Weekly. He has recently returned to composing after a lengthy hiatus; he also serves on the Graduate Studies faculty at Juilliard.

Daniel Webster was music critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1964 to 1999. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware.

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the national music writer for The Associated Press. Her focus is pop music, but she also edits and assigns AP writers around the world who cover other musical genres, from classical to country. Moody joined AP in 1992 as a general assignment reporter.

Benjamin Ratliff was born in New York City in 1968. He has been a jazz and pop critic at The New York Times since 1996. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Kate Reynolds, and their two sons, Henry and Toby. PMP convened a panel of three distinguished composers whose work spans an extraordinary range of musical styles.