Journalism
I have covered arts, culture, and dining in Chicago for 20 years. The topic I’ve returned to most often is classical music. I’ve had regular bylines previewing classical for Chicago magazine—where I was the classical-music stringer for 10 years—Crain’s Chicago Business, and WBEZ.org. I’ve also had classical stories in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and I Care If You Listen. I’ve reviewed classical concerts for Chicago Classical Review and Bachtrack.
I’ve also covered live performance more broadly, including theater, dance, museums, and live music beyond classical. At three different times, I’ve written a weekly live-events email newsletter for Crain’s, most recently “The Big Ticket.” During the run of that column, I appeared monthly on Amy Guth’s podcast “The Daily Gist” to highlight a few notable events. When Crain’s published quarterly cultural previews, I covered museums and classical music for them.
I’ve also done a lot of work on Chicago dining. I co-wrote Chicago magazine’s dining newsletter, “Dish,” for five years, winning a City and Regional Magazine Award in 2014. At the same time, I contributed unbylined dining reviews for the restaurant guide that appeared every month in the print magazine. In 2015, I moved my dining coverage to Crain’s, where I wrote half the “Business Lunch” columns reviewing restaurants at lunch and shared the other periodic dining-review features, such as the annual steakhouses round-up and Best New Restaurants.
In addition to the publications already noted, my work has appeared in The Rotarian, The Washingtonian, WFMT.com, Princeton Alumni Weekly, program books at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dot Dot Dot, and other venues. There are a lot of dead links out there, but at the time of publishing this webpage, the stories and landing pages linked here were live.
WBEZ.org
Since early 2024, I’ve been a regular contributor to the arts desk of WBEZ.org, the website of Chicago’s local NPR affiliate. Because WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times share the same parent company, Chicago Public Media, sometimes these stories also run in the Sun-Times or get repackaged by an on-air reporter.
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Wrightwood 659 is small, quiet and mighty — and worth a visit.
If you’ve ever been in Lincoln Park, waiting near Alcott Elementary School or cutting through a residential side street going from The Wiener’s Circle to Kingston Mines, maybe you’ve noticed some art banners on a fence. If you look a little closer, you’ll see an entryway that looks less residential than its neighbors.
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Guarneri Hall has been a valued space among classical music insiders, thanks to its central location and unique acoustics. A new music series may open the hall to new audiences.
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The busy Chicago Top Chef winner is prepping for Chicago Gourmet and the opening of a third restaurant, Il Carciofo, in the West Loop.
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Think you know what opera is? Sharon, a director and University of Chicago fellow, has written a new book asking audiences to think again.
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On Thursday, the orchestra will perform a final work from Montgomery — the grace note on her wildly prolific three-year run as the city’s adopted new-music superstar.
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David Kwong’s The Engimatist, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater all month, is the performance for our puzzle-forward era.
Chicago magazine
I have contributed a lot of verbiage to Chicago magazine over the years. I was on the editorial staff between 2005 and 2011. When I started freelancing, I continued to do most of my journalism work for my former coworkers. I was the classical-music stringer from 2012 until 2020. I co-wrote the dining email newsletter, “Dish,” from 2011 until 2015. I reviewed restaurants for the magazine from 2011 to 2015. Most of my work as an editor rather than a writer comes from here.
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The company puts a twist on Wagner in its first drive-through opera.
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The coronavirus hit America at the worst possible moment for Lyric Opera.
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JACK Quartet violinist Austin Wulliman on the unconventional piece hitting the Logan Center this Friday
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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra showcases the world premiere of his work ‘Three Lisel Mueller Settings.’
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The Spektral Quartet is taking on a Morton Feldman piece that takes from five to six hours to perform.
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On the genesis of Seven Somniloquies, a world premiere at Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival 2021
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The famous drummer is collaborating with Third Coast Percussion with some bizarre noise makers.
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Over expensive cocktails at the Aviary, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s composer-in-residence talked Steely Dan, gin, and his plan for the MusicNow series.
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MOCKTAIL CULTURE: The Shirley Temple has grown up: Four spots with virgin drinks for adults
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A FOODIE ESCAPADE: You know a macaroon from a macaron, sweetmeats from sweetbreads, and St. Germain from St. Albray. Yup, you’re a foodie.
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OUR TALK: Chicago’s history weaves through English—we identified the 40 words where the city’s voice speaks loudest
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Medical experts answer more than two dozen key questions—about second opinions, clinical trials, the limitations of insurance, and other significant topics—to help patients map a road to recovery
Crain’s
Chicago Business
I have contributed classical-music, museums, and live events coverage to Crain’s Chicago Business sporadically regularly since 2015. I have written several weekly live-events newsletters for Crain’s, most recently “The Big Ticket.” I also wrote half the “Business Lunch” columns as one of two restaurant critics from 2015 until 2020.
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A preview of live-performance arts and culture highlights, fall 2023
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A sample “Big Ticket” column, from Sept. 7, 2023
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A sample “Big Ticket” column, from March 15, 2023
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A surprising number of high-end tasting menus debuted during the pandemic. Here's a shortlist to make up for all those birthdays and anniversaries you spent at home.
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Theater, dance, museum exhibits and early warnings for what tickets to buy now.
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We visited five steak-serious restaurants that are all less than a year old to see which might be worth adding to your red-meat restaurant rotation.
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If you want to convince someone you're cooler than you actually are, this is your place, designed for millennial experiential leisure.
Other freelance work
I have done some interesting one-offs for publications other than my main gigs over the years, some of which I’ve collected here.
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There’s more to literacy than books
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Grants free up Rotary Scholars to learn and build their networks
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An article describing a new production of Verdi’s Macbeth, for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s program book
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I followed über-violinist Hilary Hahn around Chicago during her residency and wrote about it for the CSO’s program book.
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I covered the 2019 CSO musicians’ strike for local classical station WFMT.
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A profile of Dan Cohen and his Digital Public Library of America project, for Princeton Alumni Weekly
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Concert review from Chicago Classical Review, April 16, 2024
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Concert review for Bachtrack, May 3, 2024
