- Matthews Distinguished University Professor, Emeritus Department of History
- College of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Joint appointments in Departments of Cultures, Societies and Global Studies; Program in Screen and Media Studies; Dept. of Music Adjunct Appointment
- 249 Meserve Hall
- Northeastern University, Boston, Mass. 02115
- Ph.D. (1980) and M.A. (1975)
- University of California, Berkeley
- Slavic Languages and Literatures (Russian and Czech)
- B.A. (1972) Magna cum laude, Phi beta kappa
- Yale University, Russian Language and Literature
- Summer School of Slavonic Studies, Charles University, Prague, 1974, 1975, 2003
- (Czech Language)
- Northeastern University, Boston, MA
- Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
- Chair (1996-1999)
- Professor of Russian and Cinema Studies (1996-2018)
- Department of History
- Joint appointment (2000-2018)
- Coordinator of Graduate Programs (2008-09, 2015)
- Interim Chair (2013-14)
- Matthews Distinguished University Professor Emeritus (2018-)
- Affiliate Professor, Dept. of Music (2016-)
- University at Albany, State University of New York
- Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
- Chair 1992-94; Acting Chair 1988-89
- Associate Professor (language, literature, culture) 1987-95
- Assistant Professor 1980-1987
- Department of Germanic & Slavic Languages & Literatures
- Professor 1995-96
- Chair 1994-95
- Aspen Music Festival and School Faculty (Aspen, Colo) (2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
- University of California, Berkeley, Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures
- Teaching Assistant, Teaching Associate and Acting Instructor in Russian Language, 1975-79
- Teaching Assistant, Teaching Associate and Acting Instructor in Russian Language, 1975-79
- Instructor of Russian language:
- Sullivan Language School, Berkeley, California, 1974-76
- Lee High School, New Haven, Connecticut, 1972
- Instructor in English as a Second Language:
- University of California, Berkeley extension, summers 1975-80
- Foreign Study League, Berkeley, Ca., summers 1976-77
- Dokanjuku-Gaigo Language School, Tokyo, Japan, 1972
- Language Studies, Ltd., Paris, France, 1973
Dissertation
- The Operas of Sergei Prokofiev and Their Russian Literary Sources.
- Filed June, 1980. Simon Karlinsky, advisor.
Books
1) Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography
- 573 pp. Viking Press, 1987;
- published in UK by Robert Hale (1987); in paper by Paragon House (1988);
- Spanish-language edition by Javier Vergara, Editor (1988)
- Reissued by Northeastern University Press with a new foreword and afterword, paper, 2002, 584 pp.;
Kindle edition from Plunkett Lake Press (2018)
2) The Last Impresario: The Life, Times and Legacy of Sol Hurok
- 521 pp. Viking Press, 1994; Penguin paper, 1995.
3) Selected Letters of Sergei Prokofiev
- Translated, edited and with an introduction by Harlow Robinson 348 pp.
- Northeastern University Press; 1998
4) Russians in Hollywood, Hollywood’s Russians: Biography of an Image
- Northeastern U Press/UPNE, 2007. 314 pp.
5) Lewis Milestone: Life and Films.
- University Press of Kentucky, 2019. 280 pp.
Chapters in Collections
- “Harlow Robinson Interviews Andris Nelsons: Andris Nelsons on Dmitri Shostakovich and His Music,” https://www.bso.org/brands/bso/about-us/historyarchives/shostakovich-online-exhibit.aspx,
Shostakovich Online Exhibit, Boston Symphony Orchestra, posted April 2016 - “Americans from Russia in Music,” American Artists from the Russian Empire,
State Russian Museum and Foundation for International Arts and Education,
Exhibition Catalogue (Graficart, Palace Editions), 2008, 68-85 - “Sergej Prokofjew—Emigration als Pendelbewegung,” Komponisten im Exil: 16
Kunsterschicksale des 20.Jahrhunderts, Ferdinand Zehentreiter, ed.,
Henschel, Berlin, 2008, 29-44. - Entries on “Sofia Gubaidulina,” “Sergei Prokofiev,” “Alfred Schnittke,”
“Dmitri Shostakovich,” “Igor Stravinsky,” “Music in Film,” “Galina Ulanova,”
“Natalia Sats,” for Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture,
Tatiana Smorodinskaya, ed. Routledge, 2006 - Entry on “Vsevolod Meyerhold,” Encyclopedia of Modern Europe: Europe 1789 to 1914-
Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire,” John Merriman and Jay Winter, eds.,
Thomson-Gale, 2006. - “Shostakovich Symposium: Maksim Shostakovich, Yevgeny Yevtushenko,
Solomon Volkov, Kenneth Kiesler,” moderated, translated and edited by Harlow Robinson in Shostakovich Reconsidered , Allan B.Ho and Dmitry Feofanov, eds.
Toccata Press, 1998, 373-399 - “Music,” in The Cambridge Companion to Modern Russian Culture,
ed.Nicholas Rzhevsky, Cambridge U.Press, 1998, 236-63.
Reprinted 2012 - 41 reviews of operas on video for Metropolitan Opera Guide to Opera on Video,
Paul Gruber, ed., Norton, 1997. - “Composing for Victory: Classical Music in the USSR During World War II,” Culture and Entertainment in Wartime Russia, edited by Richard Stites. Indiana University Press, 1995; 62-76.
- “‘Molchanie–eto smert'” or ‘Keeping Russia Clean’: Recent Developments in the Gay and Lesbian Movement in Russia, For SK: In Celebration of the Life and Career of Simon Karlinsky, Modern Russian Literature and Culture, Studies and Texts Vol.33, Berkeley Slavic Specialties, 1994, 255-262.
- “Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and the Russian Ballet Tradition,” Crossed Stars: Artistic Sources and Social Conflict in the Ballet “Romeo and Juliet”, Revised and edited proceedings from a Conference sponsored by the Dance Critics Association, San Francisco
Performing Arts Library & Museum, 1994, 34-38. - Articles on Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander Borodin, Betrothal in a Monastery, Prince Igor and Kat’a Kabanova for International Dictionary of Opera (St. James Press, 1993)
- “Soviet Culture Under Gorbachev: Another ‘Thaw’?,” in The Gorbachev Generation: Issues in Soviet Domestic Policy edited by Jane Shapiro Zacek. Paragon House, 1989. 139-55.
Translations
- Mussorgsky: Complete Songs for Voice and Piano, G.Schirmer, Inc., 1995
Paraphrase translations, 371-389 - Tchaikovsky: Complete Songs for the Voice and Piano, paraphrase translations (unpublished)
- “Vasilisa the Fair,” a play in two acts and eight scenes after Russian folk tales, by Sofia Prokofieva and Irina Tokmakova. Translated by Sabina Modzhalevskaya and Harlow Robinson; edited by Harlow Robinson. For New York State Theatre Institute, Albany; produced May 1991; published in paperback by Samuel French, 2003 (52 pp.)
- Mozart and Salieri by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Introduction on the opera; English translation of the opera (singing version) with Thaddeus Motyka; translation of the introduction and notes to the Soviet edition. Belwin-Mills, Inc., 1984. Produced by Chamber Opera Theatre of New York, 1981; Aspen Music Festival, 2006; Little Opera Theatre of New York, 2009
- The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. English translation of the opera (singing version) and translation of the introduction and notes to Soviet edition. Belwin-Mills, Inc., 1984. Reprinted by Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1994.
Refereed Articles
- “Flirting With Decadence: Sergei Prokofiev and Ognennyi angel.”
Opera Quarterly, Winter 1991/92, Vol.8, No.4 1-7. - “‘If You’re Afraid of Wolves, Don’t Go Into the Forest’: On the History of Borodin’s Prince Igor.” Opera Quarterly, Winter 1990/91, Vol.7, No.4. 1-12.
- “Facing the Music: Perestroika and the High Arts.” Soviet Union/Union Sovietique, 15, Nos.2-3 (1988),151-165.
- “The Case of the Three Russians: Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich.” Opera Quarterly. (Vol. 6, No.3, Spring 1989). 59-75.
- “Love for Three Operas: The Collaboration of Vsevolod Meyerhold and Sergei Prokofiev.” Russian Review. (Vol.45, No.3, July 1986). 239-56. Reprinted in Studien zur Musik des XX. Jahrhunderts in Ost- und Ostmitteleuropa, Detlef Gojowy, ed. Berlin Verlag, Arno Spitz, 1990, 79-102.
- “Russian Culture After Brezhnev: Music.” Soviet Union/Union Sovietique. (Vol.12, Part 2, 1985). 137-44.
- “‘The Most Contemporary Art’: Sergei Prokofiev and Soviet Film.” Studies in Comparative Communism. (Vol. XVII, 3 & 4, Fall/Winter 1984-85). 203-218.
- “Dostoevsky and Opera: Prokofiev’s The Gambler.” Musical Quarterly. (Vol. LXX, No.1, Winter 1984). 96-106.
- “An Incredible Country: Prokofiev and America,” Three Oranges (Inaugural Issue), No.One, January 2001, Serge Prokofiev Association, London, 4-5. Reprinted in New York Concert Review, Summer 2003, 4-5.
- “Prokofiev and St.Petersburg,” Three Oranges, No.8, Nov.2004, 11-14.
- “Back to Borodin: Prince Igor and the Politics of Soviet Music,” Muzyka: Russian Music Past and Present, Vol.1, No.1 (Spring-Summer 2005), 15-22
- “The Caucasian Connection: National Identity in the Ballets of Aram Khachaturian,” Nationalities Papers, Vol.35, Issue 3, July 2007, 429-438.
- “’My Second Son’: The Collaboration of Sergei Prokofiev and Sergei Diaghilev,” Experiment, No.17 (2011), 140-154 (Brill, Leiden)
- “Lewis Milestone: The Russian Connection,” Cineaste, Vol.XXXVII No.2, Spring 2012, 10-14
- “Sol Hurok,” essay for Dance Heritage Coalition online “100 Dance Treasures,” danceheritage.org, posted 11/2012
- Entry on Sol Hurok, Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2013, pp.279-80.
- “Hurok and Gosconcert,” Proceedings of “Dancing the Cold War: An International Symposium,” ed.by Lynn Garafola, 25-36, Harriman Institute, Columbia U, Feb.16-18, 2017
Recordings
- “Talking About Opera: Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov” (CD), Metropolitan Opera Guild, 2003 (75 minutes with musical examples)
- “Talking About Opera: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (cassette tape), Metropolitan Opera Guild, 1996
- “Talking About Opera: Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” (cassette tape) Metropolitan Opera Guild, 1994
Film/Video
- Webinar: “The Russian Parsifal?: Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov and The Invisible City of Kitezh.” Wagner Society of New York, February 28, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpTN045vDj
- “Dmitri Shostakovich: The Man, The Music, The Myth”: introductory lecture and four-meeting online mini-course for Borderlines Open School (Cambridge, MA), March 2021. https://borderlinesopenschool.org/webinar0216
- Member of Jury, Fourth Hungarian Documentary Film Festival of Los Angeles, October 2013
- Interviewer of documentary filmmaker Marina Goldovskaya for oral/visual history project, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Los Angeles, Oct.2011
- Boston Symphony Orchestra, Podcast on Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No.6, posted Feb.2011
- Consultant and interview subject for Khoristoria, documentary film history of Yale Russian Chorus, released 2009
- Conducted interviews and on-site translations and acted as consultant for An Anagram, 40-minute video essay by Dan Barnet and Gary Henoch, bePictures 2002 (filmed on location in Russia autumn 1991)
- Consultant and interview subject for documentary film (60 minutes) Verschlossene Heimat about Sergei Prokofiev, directed by Oliver Becker, produced by WDR Cologne and Loft Munich, with arte and ORF, aired 1999
- Writer, editor and on-air host for “Soviet Television Tonight,” SUNY-New York Network PBS/Soviet TV Exchange Project, 1988-89; six one-hour programs of Soviet documentaries (translated into English with commentary) aired nationwide on PBS July 1989
- Consultant and interview subject for documentary film (58 minutes) on Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, directed by Tom Gliserman for SUNY/New York Network, 1986; released commercially by Proscenium Entertainment, 1990
- Interviewed for Judge Not…, a documentary on Tikhon Khrennikov by Semyon Pinkasov, 2007
Other Publications (Selected list)
- Program essay on John Williams, Boston Symphony Orchestra, July 23, 2021
- Program essay on Rimsky-Korsakov “Overture on Three Russian Themes,” Boston Symphony Orchestra, July 19, 2021
- Program essay on Stravinsky “Pulcinella Suite,” Boston Symphony Orchestra, July 19, 2021
- Liner notes essay, Shostakovich Symphonies Nos.1, 14, 15 and Chamber Symphony, Op.110a, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon CD, June 2021(2 CDs)
- Program essay on Shostakovich Tahiti Trot, Boston Symphony Orchestra, March 25, 2021
- Program essay on Shostakovich/Barshai Chamber Symphony, Op.110a, Boston Symphony Orchestra, January 2020
- Program notes on Rimsky-Korsakov Dubinushka and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dec.12-15, 2019
- Program notes on Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 and Stravinsky The Rite of Spring, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Nov.30-Dec.1, 2019
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.12, Boston Symphony Orchestra, November 7-12, 2019
- “Stranger Than Fiction: Pagliacci and the Commedia dell’arte,” CODA Magazine, Boston Lyric Opera, Fall 2019, 2-4.
- “A Man Under Suspicion,” Scottish Opera Program Book for Tosca, October-November, 2019, 22-26.
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.2, Boston Symphony Orchestra (Tanglewood), July 26, 2019
- Program notes for Stravinsky Festival, three concerts, Los Angeles Philharmonic, April 2019
- “An Ethnical Interpreter of Life” (on Benjamin Britten’s opera The Rape of Lucretia), CODA Magazine, Boston Lyric Opera, Spring 2019, 10-12
- Program notes for RUSSIAN PANORAMA festival, four concerts of Russian chamber Music (March 10, 15, 19, 24, 2019), Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
- Program notes (Rachmaninoff Piano concerto 2 and Symphonic Dances), Russian National Orchestra, Great Performers Series, Lincoln Center, February 20, 2019
- Liner notes essay, Dmitri Shostakovich Symphonies 6, 7, incidental music from “King Lear,” “Festive Overture,” Boston Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon CD, February 2019
- Program notes: Dvorak Masterworks, Members of Los Angeles Philharmonic, January 8, 2019 (Dvorak String Quartet no.13, Piano Quintet No.2; Penderecki “Duo Concertante for violin and bass)
- Program notes (Tchaikovsky “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy Overture, Variations on a Rococco Theme, Michael Tilson Thomas “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind”), Los Angeles Philharmonic, Nov.30, 2018
- Program notes (Charles Ives “New England Symphony,” Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6), Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dec.8, 2018
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No. 1, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.8-10, 2018
- “’Driven into the Paradise’: Arnold Schoenberg and the Exile Experience,” CODA Magazine, Boston Lyric Opera, Fall 2018, 5-6+
- Liner notes essay, Dmitri Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 11 (“The Year 1905”) and 4, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon CD, July 2018
- “A Gutsy Survivor: Threepenny Thrives On Any Stage,” Program essay for Boston Lyric Opera production, March 2018
- “’The World is Poor and Men Are Bad,’: The Threepenny Opera and Politics Then and Today,” CODA Magazine (Boston Lyric Opera), Spring 2018, 2-3.
- Program essay on Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 (“Pathetique”), Boston Symphony Orchestra, March 15-17, 2018
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.14, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Feb. 1-3, 2018
- Program essay on Stravinsky Divertimento (The Fairy’s Kiss), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan.25-27, 2018
- “Napoleon Complex: The Politics of Tosca,” CODA Magazine (Boston Lyric Opera), Fall 2017, 16-20
- Introduction and program notes for “Music for the Masses: Soviet Composers in Search of A Revolutionary Style,” concert for international conference “Did Ten Days Shake The World?” Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard U., 10/6/17
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.11, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sept.28-Oct.3, 2017
- Program essay on Shostakovich incidental music from King Lear, Boston Symphony Orchestra, May 4-6, 2017
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.6, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 27-May 2, 2017
- “Making Sense of Igor” (on career of Igor Stravinsky), program book for The Rake’s Progress, Boston Lyric Opera, March 2017, 6-7
- “Igor and Arnold in LA-LA Land,” Coda: The Magazine of Boston Lyric Opera, Spring 2017, 2-3
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.7 (“Leningrad”), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Feb.23-25, 2017
- Program essay on Mieczyslaw Weinberg Violin Concerto, Boston Symphony Orchestra, January 19-24, 2017
- “Russia’s Hollywood Legacy,” in “U.S.-Russia Shared Frontiers: California,” Special issue of Russia Direct, Oct.2016, 28-29
- Program essay on Shostakovich Festive Overture, Boston Symphony Orchestra, September 24-30, 2016
- “Comrade Carmen: The Spanish Civil War Connection,” Coda: The Magazine of Boston Lyric Opera,” Fall 2016
- Liner notes essay on “Under Stalin’s Shadow (II),” Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons, Dmitri Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 5, 8, 9 and incidental music from “Hamlet,” released by Deutsche Grammophon June 2016 recording received Grammy Award for best orchestral recording of 2016
- Program essay on Prokofiev Piano Sonatas Nos.7, 8, “Solzhenitsyn and Prokofiev,” Ignat Solzhenitsyn recital, DaCamera, Houston, March 22, 2016
- “Werther Fever,” CODA: The Magazine of Boston Lyric Opera, Spring 2016, 14-15
- Program essay on Shostakovich incidental music for “Hamlet,” Boston Symphony Orchestra, Feb.4-9, 2016
- Program essay on Tchaikovsky Symphony No.1, Boston Symphony Orchestra, November 24-28, 2015
- Program essay on Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings, Serenade melancolique, Melodie, Boston Symphony Orchestra, October 29-31, 2015
- “The Puccini Puzzle,” Coda: The Magazine of Boston Lyric Opera, Fall 2015, 16-17
- Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.9, Boston Symphony Orchestra, October 1-3, 2015
- Liner notes essay on “Under Stalin’s Shadow,” Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons, Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No.10 and Passacaglia from “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” Deutsche Grammophon, released August 2015; recording received Grammy Award for best orchestral recording of 2015
- Program essay on Shostakovich “Passacaglia” from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Symphony No.10, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 2-7, 2015
- Program essay on Liadov “From the Apocalypse,” Boston Symphony Orchestra, February 12-14, 2015
- Program notes for Garrick Ohlsson recital (Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev) at Lincoln Center, NY, NY, Jan.29, 2015
- Program essay on Prokofiev Symphony-Concerto, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.20-22, 2014
- Program essay on Rachmaninoff The Bells, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.20-22, 2014
- Program essay on Tchaikovsky Hamlet Overture, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.13-15, 2014
- Program essay on Sofia Gubaidulina Offertorium, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.6-8, 2014
- Program notes on Stravinsky (“Fireworks,” “Rite of Spring,” “Pulcinella”), for Basil Twist Company, White Light Festival, Lincoln Center, NY, NY, Oct.15-18, 2014
- Program notes on Shostakovich (Piano Concerto No.1), Prokofiev (“Classical” Symphony), Beethoven (Symphony No.8) for Mostly Mozart Festival, Lincoln Center, NY, NY, August 8-9, 2014
- Program essay on works of Shostakovich and Schnittke for Prelude Concert, Boston Symphony Orchestra members, Tanglewood Music Festival, August 1, 2014
- Program essay on Dmitri Shostakovich Quartets Nos.11-15, Emerson Quartet, Tanglewood Music Festival, July 10, 2014
- Program essay on Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 3-5, 2014
- Program essay on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio espagnol, Boston Symphony Orchestra, March 27-29, 2014
- Program essay on Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No.15, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan.23-25, 2014
- Program essay on Sergei Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.14-19, 2013
- Program essay on Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges Suite, Boston Symphony Orchestra, October 3-8, 2013
- Program essay on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1, Boston Symphony Orchestra, October 3-8, 2013
- “A Second Act for This ‘Gatsby’,” (on John Harbison’s opera “The Great Gatsby”), Boston Globe, G Arts & Movies Section, 5/10/13
- “Boston Lyric opera to Stage Wagner’s Vast ‘Dutchman,” Boston Globe, Arts section, p.10-11, 4/21/13
- Program essay on Nikolai Miaskovsky’s Symphony No.10, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 12-13, 2013
- Program essay on Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Feb.21, 2013
- “Boston Lyric Opera Goes Old Testament” (on James MacMillan’s opera Clemency), Boston Globe Arts Section, Feb.3, 2013, N5
- “Russia’s Varied Musical Heritage,” program book essay for programs with Russian music in winter and spring 2013, Boston Symphony Orchestra
- Program essay on Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.1, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.15, 2012
- “The Many Lives of Anna Karenina,” Boston Globe Movies Section, Nov.11, 2012
- Program essay on Prokofiev’s Symphony No.5, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.8, 2012
- Program essay on Stravinsky’s The Nightingale, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Oct.25, 2012
- Program essay on Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Oct.18, 2012
- Program essay on Prokofiev’s Cinderella, Salzburg Festival, August 23, 2012
- “Boston Lyric Opera Brings ‘The Lighthouse’ to JFK,” Boston Globe, Feb.5, 2012, N7
- “Supernatural stagehands in a new ‘Macbeth’ from BLO,” Boston Globe, Oct.28, 2011, N2
- “’The Italian Girl in Algiers’ gets a makeover,” Boston Globe, July 24, 2011, N3
- “BLO Makes its ‘Dream’ a Reality,” on Boston Lyric Opera production of Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Boston Globe, April 24, 2011, N1
- Program essay on Sergei Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil, Back Bay Chorale, Boston, MA, March 2011
- “Superstar Hits All the Right Notes,” feature article on Russian opera singer Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Boston Globe, Feb.20, 2011, N4
- Program essay on Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy, Boston Symphony Orchestra, January 20, 2011
- Program essay on Musorgsky Night on Bald Mountain, Boston Symphony Orchestra, February 3, 2011
- Program essay on Prokofiev Symphony No.6, Boston Symphony Orchestra, February 3, 2011
- “Act One: With a yen for the eclectic and a vision centered on sound, David Angus Steps in as Boston Lyric Opera’s music director,” Boston Globe, October 24, 2010, N1+
- “Ivan the Terrible: The Film, The Music,” Program essay for Vienna Philharmonic concerts at Salzburg Festival, Salzburg, Austria, August 15-17, 2010, 27-32
- “The International Russian” (on New York Philharmonic The Russian Stravinsky Festival), Playbill, April 2010, 6-9.
- Program essay on Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.1, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 13-17, 2010
- Program essay on Tchaikovsky Symphony No.2, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 13-17, 2010
- “Scaring Up An Alternative Venue,” (on Lyric Opera of Boston Turn of the Screw), Boston Globe, N2, January 31, 2010
- “Screenplay Credits for Anton Chekhov,” (on “Celebrating Chekhov” Film Festival at MFA), Boston Globe, N9, January 24, 2010
- Program essay on Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.24-28, 2009
- “Wagner Helped in Finding Her Voice,” (interview/profile of Linda Watson), Boston Globe, N2, November 15, 2009
- “Her Voice is Commanding, and So Is Her Presence,” (interview/profile of Ewa Podles), Boston Globe, N5, October 18, 2009
- Program essay on Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini, Boston Symphony Orchestra, October 15-20, 2009
- Program essay on Rachmaninoff Isle of the Dead, Boston Symphony Orchestra, October 8-13, 2009
- “Scaling Back, Festival Finds Its Voice in ‘Poppea,” (on Boston Early Music Festival Production of Coronation of Poppea), The Boston Globe, N 1+, May 31, 2009
- Program essay on Stravinsky Symphony in C, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 23-25, 2009
- Program notes on music of Sergei Prokofiev for “Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev,” four concerts by the London Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center, NY, NY, March 23, 24, 29, 30, 2009
- “Half-wild, half-woman, full staging,” Boston Globe, 3/20/09, G. (On Dvorak’s opera Rusalka)
- Essay on Sergei Prokofiev’s chamber music for Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Around Prokofiev Festival, March 5-19, 2009
- “Follow that ‘Nose’—This Opera Does,” Boston Sunday Globe, 2/22/09, N5. (On Dmitri Shostakovich opera The Nose)
- “Romeo and Juliet, Happy At Last,” Symphony Magazine, Vol.60, No.2, March/April 2009, 56-60.
- Program essay on Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Boston Symphony Orchestra, March 5-10, 2009
- “Imagining the Enemy,” Russian Life, Vol.51, No.6 (Nov/Dec2008), 52-59
- Program essay on Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.20-25, 2008
- Program notes on music of Sergei Prokofiev for “Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev,” four concerts by the Kirov Chorus and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater (St.Petersburg, Russia) at Lincoln Center, NY,NY, Nov.9, 10, 16, 17, 2008 Program essays on Glinka Ruslan and Ludmila Overture and Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sept.24, 2008
- “Rethinking Rigoletto,” OperaCues (Houston Grand Opera magazine), Vol.49, No.1, Summer 2008, 48-50.
- “Communism’s Culture Wars” (review/essay of Solomon Volkov The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn), The New Leader, March/April 2008, 21-22
- “Rostropovich Revealed” (review/essay of Elizabeth Wilson Rostropovich: The Musical Life of the Great Cellist, Teacher and Legend), Symphony, Vol.59, No.2, March-April 2008, 57-61
Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.4, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Feb.14-16, 2008
Essay on Valery Gergiev’s Perspectives Russian Festival at Carnegie Hall,
Playbill, December 2007
Essay on Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, Playbill, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.,
November 2007
Program essays for St. Petersburg Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, Oct.30, Oct.31,
Nov. 1, 2007 (3 different programs)
Program essays for Aspen Music Festival 2007 (Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Sil’vestrov,
Stravinsky, Godowsky)
“Prodigiously Prokofiev,” (review essay on the diaries of Sergei Prokofiev), Symphony, July-
August 2007 (Vol.58, No.4), 87-91
Liner note essay for CD Wrinkled Moon, music of Daniel S. Godfrey, released
by Koch Classics, summer 2007
Program essay on Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Overture, Boston Symphony
Orchestra, March 8-13, 2007
Program notes on music of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Schnittke, DaCamera of Houston,
December 2, 2006
“A Fresh Wind from the East,” (on East European and Russian opera singers), OperaCues
(Houston Grand Opera), Vol.47, No.01, Fall 2006, 25-27.
“Unlucky Histories” (on the operatic career of Dmitri Shostakovich), Opera, Sept.2006,
Vol.57, No.9, 1034-1044
“Music’s Paralyzed Prince” (essay on the Shostakovich centenary), Symphony, Vol.57, No.5,
Sept-Oct 2006, 32-7.
“Forbidden Music: Suppressed Voices,” Aspen Music Festival and School Program Book,
Summer 2006, 83+
“Kullervo and Finnish Nationalism,” Encore Atlanta (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
program book), May/June 2006, 10-11.
“An Opera Like Champagne,” Essay on Sergei Prokofiev’s opera Betrothal in a
Monastery, Glyndebourne (UK) Festival Opera program book, Summer 2006, 92-96
Program essay on Shostakovich Two Pieces for String Quartet, Trio No.2; Tchaikovsky
“Souvenir de Florence,” DaCamera of Houston, May 6, 2006
Program essay on Stravinsky Oedipus Rex, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
May 5-6, 2006
“The Chorus in Boris Godunov,” Playbill, Houston Grand Opera, November 2005
Program essay on Schnittke Concerto Grosso No.5, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Nov.10-15, 2005
Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.8, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Oct.20-25, 2005; reprinted in program of Aspen Music Festival 8/06/06
Program essay on Prokofiev’s Symphony No.5, Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, Colo.,
July 24, 2005
“In Search of Dmitri Shostakovich,” New York Concert Review, Vol.12, No.3, Summer 2005,
1-2+
“Rebels and Visionaries,” program essay for DaCamera of Houston (Shostakovich, Schubert,
Desyatnikov), Nov.9, 2004
“Prokofiev and the Violin,” liner note essay for Artemis CD 1555 (Gil and Orli Shaham),
Sept.2004
“Mr.B and the Composers,” Symphony Magazine, July-August 2004 (Vol.55, No.4), 56-63.
“Prokofiev, Gubaidulina and the Fate of Soviet Music,” Encore Atlanta (Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra Program Book), May 2004, 12-13.
“Preludes and Fugues: Bach and Shostakovich,” program essay for “Illuminating
Masterworks,” DaCamera of Houston, April 2004
Essay for CD (Koch Classics 3-7573-2HI) of music of Daniel S.Godfrey,
Cassatt String Quartet, released March 2004
Program essay on Tchaikovsky The Tempest, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nov.4-8,2003
“Yale Russian Chorus: An Appreciation,” Yale Russian Chorus Alumni 50th Anniversary
Concert program book, Oct.25, 2003
Yale Russian Chorus Alumni 50th Anniversary Concert program book notes to songs,
Oct.25, 2003
“He Was Lost and Is Found,” introductory essay for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book
on Sergei Prokofiev, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sept.2003 (Dutch and English)
“Western Exposure,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“International Success Story,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“A New Simplicity,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“The Prodigal Son,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“Stage Music,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“The Journey Home,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“People’s Opera,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“A Loyal Citizen,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“The War Years,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“Coda: Renaissance,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“Prokofiev’s Piano Music,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“Film Music,” for Gergiev Festival 2003 Program Book on Prokofiev,
Rotterdam Philharmonic, 9/2003 (Dutch and English)
“Town Without Pity: Janacek’s Katya Kabanova,” Santa Fe Opera Season Book 2003,
59-63
“Patricia Racette’s Katya Premiere,” Santa Fe Opera Crescendo Newsletter, Spring 2003
“String Fusion” (Profile of pipa player Wu Man), Symphony Magazine, July-August 2003,
64-70
Program essay on Prokofiev’s Chout, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
April 10-15, 2003
Program essay on Prokofiev’s Russian Overture, New York Philharmonic,
April 3-5, 2003
Program essay on Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante, New York Philharmonic,
April 3-5, 2003
Program essay on Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, New York Philharmonic,
April 3-5, 2003
“Center Stage: Slava and Friends,” on Mstislav Rostropovich, New York Philharmonic
Playbill, March 2003, 20-21+
“A Tale of Seven Symphonies” (on the symphonies of Sergei Prokofiev), Symphony
Magazine, March-April 2003 (Vol.43,No.2), 49-54.
Program essay on Shostakovich’s Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Folk Themes,
Boston Symphony Orchestra, February 20-25, 2003
(reprinted by Sydney Symphony, Australia, August 2003)
“Leos Janacek and Jenufa: The Brno Connection,” Metropolitan Opera Playbill,
January 2003, 23+.
Program essay on Stravinsky’s Petrouchka, New York Philharmonic, January 9-14, 2003
Program essay on Musorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, New York Philharmonic,
Nov.21-25, 2002 (also reprint of song translations from Schirmer edition)
Program essay on Shostakovich’s Symphony No.6, Boston Symphony,
Oct.30-Nov.2, 2002
Program essay on Prokofiev’s Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of October, Zdravitsa,
Story of a Real Man, Rotterdam Philharmonic, September 2002
Program essay on Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Santa Fe Opera 2002 Season,
31-35 (Reprinted in Seattle Opera Magazine, Fall Issue 2002/2003, 9-11)
Program essay on Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Mlada, San Francisco Symphony,
June 27, 29, 30, 2002
“Elixir of Life: Janacek’s Quest for Immortality in The Makropulos Case,”
Houston Grand Opera program essay, April 2002
Program essay on Scriabin Symphony No.1, New York Philharmonic,
April 11-15, 2002
Program essay on Rachmaninoff Symphony No.2, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
March 14-19, 2002
“Living Legacy” (On Shostakovich and Rostropovich), Stagebill (Lincoln Center),
March 2002, 18+.
“A la Russe” (On the history of Kirov Theater), Stagebill (Kennedy Center)
Feb.2002, 5-7
Program essay on Gliere Symphony No.3 (“Ilya Muromets”), Philadelphia Orchestra,
Feb.13-16,2002
Program essay on Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.4, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
January 24-26, 2002
“100 Years of Russian Music,” Colorado Symphony Orchestra “Spirit of Russia” Festival
program book essay, January 2002, 1-4
“Rachmaninoff Revisited,” Stagebill, December 2001, 14-18.
“Musical Majesty: The Kirov Opera,” Kennedy Center News, January/February 2002,4-5.
“Russian Opera at the Met,” ChevronTexaco-Metropolitan Opera Radio 2001-2002
Broadcast Guide, 6-8
Program essay on Shostakovich Symphony No.13 (“Babi Yar”) for Boston Symphony
Orchestra, November 15-20, 2001
Program essays on Krzysztof Penderecki String Trio and Mikhail Glinka Trio pathetique
for New York Philharmonic Ensembles chamber recital, October 14, 2001
Program Essay for Boston Symphony Orchestra on Shostakovich Symphony No.5,
May 1 and 4, 2001
Program Notes for Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center recital April 20 and 22,
2001 (Dvorak, Janacek, Zelenka, Martinu)
“What’s In A Nickname?”, Stagebill (Philadelphia Orchestra), Spring 2001, 12+.
Program notes for Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center recital Feb.11 and 13,
2001 (Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Brahms)
“Focus on Stravinsky,” Stagebill, Feb.2001
Program Essay for Boston Symphony Orchestra on Shostakovich Symphony No.10,
Jan.25-30, 2001
Program Essay on Igor Stravinsky (“Making Sense of Igor”) for “Language of the 20th
Century” Series, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan.11-16, 2001
Program Essay for Boston Symphony Orchestra on Scriabin Piano Concerto, Jan.18-23,2001
Program Essay for Boston Symphony Orchestra on Prokofiev “Scythian Suite,”
Jan.18-23,2001
Liner notes for Bridge CD 9104, “Quasi una Sonata: Music for Violin by Alfred Schnittke,”
December 2000
“Herman Melville, Benjamin Britten, and Billy Budd,” Seattle Opera Magazine,
Winter 2000/2001, Vol.18,No.3, 9-13.
“Whatever Happened to Soviet Music?”, Stagebill (Philadelphia Orchestra),
November 2000
Liner notes for Bridge CD 9102, “Alexander Glazunov, Complete Piano Music, Vol.I,”
October 2000 (recording nominated for 2001 Grammy Award for Best Solo
Classical Performance)
“The Queen of Spades: Russian Hearts, Russian Souls,” Lyric Opera News (Lyric
Opera of Chicago), Spring 2000, vol.46, 6-8.
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra: Tchaikovsky Symphony No.4,
August 18, 2000
Program Essay for Boston Symphony Orchestra “Film Night” at Tanglewood: Copland
The Red Pony, John Williams Angela’s Ashes, Stanley Donen tribute, August 5, 2000
Program Essay for Tanglewood Prelude Concert: Shostakovich String Quartets Nos.1 and 8,
Copland Elegies for violin and viola, August 4, 2000
Program Essay for Boston Symphony Orchestra: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 and
Symphony No.6, August 4, 2000
“Copland and His Film Music,” for Copland and the Movies Film Festival at Tanglewood
(Boston Symphony Orchestra), July 23-26, 2000
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra: Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5,
July 23, 2000
Program Essay for Boston Symphony Orchestra: Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.2,
Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini, July 8, 2000
“A Tale of Two Cities: Maly Drama Theater and Vakhtangov Theater,” Stagebill,
July 2000, 48+.
Program notes on Offertorium for violin and orchestra by Sofia Gubaidulina,
Boston Symphony Orchestra, March 9-14, 2000
“Speak, Memory: Dmitri Shostakovich and his Symphony No.13,”
Stagebill (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), March 2000, 8+.
Program essay (“In Search of Dmitri Shostakovich”), Lincoln Center Great Performers,
Emerson Quartet Shostakovich String Quartet cycle, Stagebill, February 2000;
Reprinted by Barbican Center, London, July 2001
“Letters to a Friend: Dmitri Shostakovich to Isaac Glikman,” translation and commentary,
for Emerson Quartet Shostakovich String Quartet cycle, Stagebill, February 2000
“Mystic Muse: Arvo Part,” Stagebill, January 2000, 14+.
. “Russia: Modernism Interrupted,” “The Language of the 20th Century” Essay for Boston
Symphony Orchestra Program, January 13,14,15,18, 2000
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra (Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.2),
January 13,14,15,18, 2000
“Mussorgsky and Boris Godunov,” Seattle Opera Magazine, 1999/2000 Winter Issue
(Vol.17,No.3), 7-10.
“Operatic Intrigue: The Comic, Tragic, True Tale of Opera on Huntington Avenue,”
Northeastern University Magazine, November 1999 (Vol.25, No.2), 28-33.
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra (Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.2)
November 18-20. 1999
“Peter and Igor” (on Tchaikovsky’s influence on Stravinsky), Stagebill, September 1999, 14+
Program Notes for Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, KREMERata BALTICA,
August 5, 1999 (Mozart, Herrmann, Dreznin) and August 6, 1999 (Wustin)
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra (Martinu, Goldmark, Dvorak)
July 17, 1999
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra (Gabrieli, Tan Dun, Mahler, Tchaikovsky)
July 25, 1999
Program Notes for Tanglewood Music Festival concert by Yuri Bashmet (Glinka,
Shostakovich, Schumann) July 29, 1999
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra (Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff),
August 15, 1999
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra (Stravinsky, Chopin, Tchaikovsky)
August 22, 1999
Program Essay on Martha Clarke’s dance/theatre piece Vers la flamme, for Jacob’s Pillow
Dance Festival, July 1999 (reprinted by Stagebill at New Victory Theatre in
New York and at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.)
“Tolstoy’s Transformations” (on Tod Machover’s opera Resurrection),
Stagebill, April 1999, 28-33 (reprinted in study guide for Boston Lyric Opera
Production, November 2001, and in liner notes of Albany Records recording,
February 2002)
“Double Meaning” (on Shostakovich’s Symphony No.11), Stagebill, May 1999, 28+
Liner notes for Sony CD “Milestones of the Milennium: Russian Music and Revolution
1890-1917,” May 1999 (joint project with National Public Radio)
Program Notes for Boston Symphony Orchestra (Romeo and Juliet), March 18-20, 1999
“Mystic Muse” (Profile of composer Sofia Gubaidulina), Stagebill, March 1999, 24-28
Notes on Rothschild’s Violin for Boston Jewish Film Festival Program Book 1998, 39
Liner Notes for Artona CD “Black Snow: Music of Russian Composers for Viola and Piano,”
1998
“Prokofiev’s Betrothal In A Monastery,” San Francisco Opera Guild 1998/99
Season Program Book, 61-64
` “Russian Evolution”( on the history of the Kirov Opera), Stagebill, April 1998, 8+
“From Russia With Love” (on the New York Philharmonic and Russian repertoire),
Stagebill , April 1998, 8+
“Celebrating Slava” (on Mstislav Rostropovich), Stagebill , May 1998, 22+
Program Notes for Da Camera of Houston, “Troika: Three Generations of Russian Masters”
(Glazunov, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky), May 1, 1998
“Border Crossings” (On Yuri Temirkanov), Stagebill, February 1998, 20-21
“Podium Power”(On Valery Gergiev and Alexander Toradze), Stagebill, December 1998,
24+
“Into the West” (on Galina Gorchakova), Opera News, 4/19/97, 24-27
Preview of Russian performers at Lincoln Center, Stagebill, 10/96
Profile of Alfred Schnittke and Yuri Bashmet, Stagebill, 11/96
Liner notes for BMG CD of Russian Orthodox liturgical music (“Celestial Litanies”), 1996
Liner notes for BMG CD of Red Army Chorus, 1996
Liner notes for Philips CD featuring Dmitri Hvorostovsky, songs by Rachmaninoff and
Sviridov (1996)
Program notes for Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center (11/6/95): Wagner,
Brahms, Tchaikovsky
Program notes for Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallin Chamber Orchestra
at Lincoln Center (11/2/95): Arvo Part, Bach
“The Russian Bard: Alexander Pushkin and The Queen of Spades,” Opera News,
Dec.23, 1995; 20-23
“True Grit”: Profile of Russian Mezzo Olga Borodina, Opera News, Nov.1995; 32-34
“The Sochi Festival Probes the ‘Big Lie’”; American Record Guide, Jan/Feb 1996, 6-10
Program essay on Prokofiev-Eisenstein Ivan the Terrible for
New York Philharmonic (6/95)
Program notes for Philadelphia Orchestra 1994-95 season on works of Shostakovich and Prokofiev
Program notes for Houston (TX) Da Camera Chamber 1994-95 Music Series
on works of Schnittke, Gubaidulina, Rachmaninoff
Program notes for Lincoln Center, Inc., 1994-95 season on Russian
National Orchestra (Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov);
Khorovaya Akademiya (Russian liturgical music); Mostly Mozart
(Haydn and Shostakovich)
Liner notes for BMG Classics recording of Nicolai Ghiaurov
singing Russian songs (translation and essay)
“Shostakovich On the Boards,” Stagebill, Nov.1994, 26-30.
“All the World’s A Podium” (Profile of Conductor Mariss Jansons)
Stagebill, January 1995, 12-15.
“Sol Hurok: America’s Dance Impresario,” Dance Magazine, Nov.1994, 48-53.
Program notes for concerts at Lincoln Center during 1993-94 season: State Symphony of Russia (2),
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra (2), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Essays to accompany Teldec video releases of Sergei Prokofiev’s
Stone Flower; Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mlada; Leo Delibes’ Coppelia
Essay for Elektra-Nonesuch recording by Vladimir Viardo of piano
music of Nikolai Medtner and Sergei Rachmaninoff
“Mily Balakirev: The Rustic Innovator,” liner note essay for “Mily Balakirev: The Complete
Piano Music, Vols.1 & 2,” Alexander Paley, piano, ESS.A.Y. Recordings, 1993
Translations and essay for BMG recording by Nikolai Ghiaurov of Russian art-songs
“Power Serge” (interview-portrait of Russian baritone Sergei Leiferkus), Opera News, April 2, 1994, 12-14.
“Showman” (on Sol Hurok’s activities at the Metropolitan Opera)
Opera News, March 19, 1994, 16-21.
Liner notes for recordings produced by Dorian Records (Troy,NY):
Shostakovich Symphonies Nos.7 and 9 and String Quartet No.8;
Tchaikovsky String Quartet No.1; Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky;
Russian music for cello; Borodin, Shostakovich, Stravinsky
Essay and Program Notes on Dmitri Shostakovich’s string quartets
for performances of the cycle at Lincoln Center (New York,NY)
by Manhattan String Quartet, 1992-93 season; and for performances
of the cycle at Lincoln Center by Borodin String Quartet (1994)
“Speak, Memory: Interview with Yevgeny Yevtushenko,” Stagebill, January 1993,
16+. Reprinted in liner notes to Shostakovich Symphony No.13 (“Babi Yar”),
New York Philharmonic, Teldec CD (1994), reprinted by Chicago Symphony
Orchestra (2018)
Liner Notes for Manhattan String Quartet recordings (on ESS.A.Y. label) of String Quartets 1-5 and 11-15 by
Dmitri Shostakovich; April, 1991
“Perils of the Bolshoi: Hard Times for the Russian Company.”
Opera News, March 28, 1992. 18-21.
“A Lyric Gamble: Chicago Takes A Chance On Prokofiev’s Thorny
Opera” (on The Gambler). Opera News, November 1991. 30-32.
“Prokofiev and the Great Patriotic War.” Upbeat (a publication
for Los Angeles Philharmonic subscribers), March 1991. 10-11.
Program Notes for Metropolitan Opera premiere production of Leos Janacek’s
Kat’a Kabanova, New York, February-March, 1991.
“Soviet Music’s Suffering Glasnost.” Sunday Times-Union
(Albany, NY), February 17, 1991. Section H, 1‑.
“Born That Way: Stalin’s Tyrannical Taste Spelled Bad News for Opera
in the USSR.” Opera News, Vol.55, No.9, January 19, 1991. 22-24.
“The Poetics of Prokofiev.” Stagebill, Winter 1991. 44-52.
“Janacek’s ‘House’ Is Not a Home” (On Janacek’s opera Notes
From the House of the Dead). New York Times, August 26, 1990. II, 21‑.
“Prokofiev’s Favorite Opera: How An Enemy of the People Overcame
Tolstoy and the Censors and Wrote War and Peace.”
Seattle Weekly, Vol.15,No.30, July 25, 1990, 65-66.
“Glasnost and New Soviet Music.” Musical America. Vol.110, No.3, May 1990. 20-22.
“Fear and Loathing in Mother Russia.” Sunday Times-Union
(Albany, NY), February 11, 1990. Section D, 1‑.
“America’s ’60s Finally Arrive in USSR.” Sunday Times-Union
(Albany, NY), June 18, 1989. Section D, 1‑.
“Booking Soviet Musicians Is Not Yet a Bowl of Borscht.”
New York Times. May 21, 1989. II, 23‑.
“A Glasnost Menagerie: Two American Directors Grapple with the
Challenge of Soviet Exchange.” American Theatre. Volume 5,
Number 6, September 1988. 24-29.
“Theatre in the USSR: The Winds of Change.” Performing Arts. July, 1988. 19‑.
“Russian and Soviet Theater in the U.S.” America Illustrated.
June, 1988. 41-46. (published in Russian)
“A Vigorous New Conductor Faces a Tired Orchestra.” (On Yuri
Temirkanov and the Leningrad Philharmonic.) New York Times.
June 12, 1988. II, 31‑. reprinted by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
and American Record Guide (Jan/Feb 1996)
“An L.A. Landing for Prokofiev’s ‘Angel’.” Los Angeles Times.
September 13, 1987. Calendar, 64‑.
“Bolshoi Gold: Revised Shostakovich Ballet Comes to L.A.”
Los Angeles Times. August 2, 1987. Calendar, 54‑.
“Hurok Remembered.” (On Sol Hurok) Performing Arts, August, 1987,
17‑. (Reprinted in Russian as “Legendarnyi impresario” in
Muzykal’naia zhizn’, No.2, 1990, 26-27.)
“The ‘Glasnost’ Tree Bears A Rich Musical Harvest.” New York Times. 7/ 26/87. II, 23+.
“Shostakovich and Stalin Star in a Revue.” (On the music-theatre piece “Black Sea Follies.”)
New York Times., November 23, 1986. II, 23‑.
“A Musical Tour of the USSR–Part 1.” Musical America. June, 1986. 59-61.
“The Recording Behemoth of Tverskoy Boulevard.” (On the Soviet recording company
Melodiya.) High Fidelity. June, 1986 (Vol.36, No.6). 64-65.
“A Musical Tour of the USSR–Part 2.” Musical America. July, 1986. 37-39.
“Believer.” (Interview with Finnish bass Martti Talvela on his relationship to Russian opera
and culture.) Opera News. February 1, 1986. 31-33.
“The Folk Connection.” (On the use of Czech folk sources in the operas of Leos Janacek.)
Opera News. January 4, 1986. 18-20.
“Dreams of a Prophetic Past: Novelist Toni Morrison Tries Her
Hand at Playwriting.” American Theatre. January, 1986. 17-19.
“Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’ is 50 Years Old.”
The New York Times. (10 November 1985). II, 21.
“‘The Nose’–Bizarre, Tragic, Comic.” (On Shostakovich’s opera.)
The New York Times. (17 March 1985). II, 21‑. (Reprinted in
Za rubezhom, No.46, 7-14 November, 1985.)
“From Broadway to Gorky Street (Or, What Would Lenin Say?):
American Drama on the Soviet Stage.” American Theatre. (January 1985). 12-17‑.
“A Soviet Musical Offering.” (On Sofia Gubaidulina) Stagebill. (Vol. XII, No.4, December 1984). 33-36.
“Fantasist: The Ballets of Sergei Prokofiev.” Ballet News. (May 1984). 21-23‑.
“Russia’s Cubo-Futurists Created a Startling ‘Opera’.” The New York Times. (20 November
1983). II, 21‑.
“New Music in Moscow.” Musical America. (November 1983). 37-9.
“Pique Dame: Tchaikovsky at Work.” Opera Company of Philadelphia Program.
(11 October 1983). 14-15+.
“Music Lightens the Rigors of Life in Moscow.” The New York
Times. (4 September 1983). II.
“Tchaikovsky on Tchaikovsky.” Stagebill. (Vol. VI, No.3, Spring 1983). 14‑.
“A Shostakovich Ballet Returns from Limbo.” The New York Times.
(30 January 1983). II, 1‑.
“Letter from Moscow.” Opera News. (29 January 1983). 14-16.
“Pride of Poland.” (On Stanislaw Moniuszko). Opera News. (October 1982). 14-15.
“Opera in Russian.” Stagebill. (September 1982). 7-18.
“Lady Macbeth–An Operatic Challenge.” The New York Times. (23 May 1982). II, 1‑.
“Mozart/Stravinsky.” Stagebill. (Vol.IX, No.9, May 1982). 30‑.
“Russian Music.” Stagebill. (Vol.IX, No.4, December 1981). 22‑.
“The Politics of Lady Macbeth” (on Shostakovich’s opera). San Francisco Opera.
(September 1981). 27-34‑.
“Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri.” The New York Times. (16 August 1981). II, 17‑.
“Moscow Adventure: A Rare View of the Bolshoi Ballet School.”
Ballet News. (Vol.2, No.11, May 1981). 15-18‑.
“Can Soviet Leaders Learn to Love Prokofiev’s Oranges? The New York Times.
(12 April 1981). II, 27‑.
“The Soviet Avant-Garde.” The New York Times. (11 January 1981). II.
“My Country: Bedrich Smetana Immortalized His Homeland of Czechoslovakia through
Music, Creating a National Tradition.” Opera News. (13 December 1980), 19-22.
“Jenufa and the Czech Folk Tradition.” San Francisco Opera. (September 1980), 36-42.
“The Taganka: Walking the Tightrope of Soviet Artistic Politics.”
The Christian Science Monitor. (12 May 1980). 26‑.
“Going to the Opera–Moscow Style.” The New York Times. (13 April 1980). II, 1‑.
“The Uneasy World of the Soviet Musical Vanguard.” The New York Times.
(23 March 1980). II, 1‑.
“Verdi: The Russian Connection.” (On the Petersburg premiere of La Forza del Destino.)
San Francisco Opera. (October 1979). 11‑.
“Katya Kabanova: Janacek’s Russian Opera.” (On the relationship between the opera and
Ostrovsky’s “Storm.”) San Francisco Opera. (Autumn 1977); reprt. London Records
“The Cold War Industry: On Louis Menand’s The Free World and Anne Searcy’s Ballet in the Cold War,”
Los Angeles Review of Books, May 7, 2021
“More than ‘tra-la-la,’ On Vernon Duke, Igor Stravinsky and Russian Musical Emigres,”
review of Klara Moricz In Stravinsky’s Orbit, George Harwood Phillips Taking a
Chance on Love, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sept.13, 2020
Ivana Novak, Jela Krecic, Mladen Dolar, eds. Lubitsch Can’t Wait: A Theoretical
Examination. Ljubljana: Kinoteka, Slovenian Cinematheque, 2014. Index. ix + 212 pp. $30.00 (paper).
Slavic and East European Journal, Vol.61, No.3 (Autumn 2017), 619-20.
Bewitching Russian Opera: The Tsarina from State to Stage by Irina Naroditskaya,
Slavic and East European Journal, Vol.59, No.1 (Spring 2015), 150-51.
The Experimental Group: Ilya Kabakov, Moscow Conceptualism, Soviet Avant-Gardes
By Matthew Jesse Jackson, Canadian-American Slavic Studies, Vol.48 (2014), Issue 4, 21-22
Composing for the Red Screen: Prokofiev and Soviet Film by Kevin Bartig, Studies in Russian and
Soviet Cinema, Vol.7, No.3, 2014, 366-368.
Letter Never Sent (new DVD release of Mikhail Kalatozov’s film), Cineaste, Vol.XXXVII,
No.4, Fall 2012, 61-63
Landmarks of Soviet Cinema (4-disc set), Cineaste, Web feature, spring 2012
Strike (new DVD release of Sergei Eisenstein’s film), Cineaste, Vol.XXXVII, No.1,
Winter 2011, 63-64
Moscow Believes in Tears: Russians and their Movies by Louis Menashe, Cineaste,
Web feature, June 2011
The Musical Comedy Films of Grigorii Aleksandrov by Rimgaila Salys, Russian Review,
Vol.70, issue 2, spring 2011. 331-32.
Composing for the Screen in Germany and the USSR: Cultural Politics and Propaganda,
Robynn J. Stilwell and Phil Powrie, eds. Russian Review, Vol.69, No.1, Jan.2010. 146-47.
Opera and Ideology in Prague: Polemics and Practice at the National Theater 1900-1938,
Slavic and East European Journal, Vol.52, No.3, Fall 2008, 475-76.
The Cambridge Companion to Stravinsky, Jonathan Cross, ed. Russian Review, Vol.65, No.4,
October 2006. 691-93.
Stravinsky: The Second Exile, France and America 1934-1971 by Stephen Walsh,
Symphony Magazine, Vol.57, No.6 (Nov-Dec.2006), 65-70
Musorgsky: His Life and Work by David Brown, Andante.com Magazine, December 2002
Centaur: The Life and Art of Ernst Neizvestny by Albert Leong. New York Times Book
Review, August 25, 2002, 10.
Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin by Sebag Montefiore. New York Times Book Review,
December 2, 2001, 32.
Intersections and Transpositions: Russian Music, Literature and Society edited by Andrew
Baruch Wachtel, Slavic and East European Journal, Vol.44, No.1 (Spring 2000), 145-47.
Shostakovich: A Life by Laurel E. Fay, New York Times Book Review, January 2, 2000, 21.
Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times by Frank Rich, New York Times
Book Review, December 6, 1998. 44.
Soviet Hieroglyphics: Visual Culture in Late Twentieth-Century Russia, edited by Nancy
Condee, Canadian-American Slavic Studies , Vol.31, No.2, 230-232.
Michael and Natasha: The Life and Love of Michael II, the Last of the Romanov Tsars
by Rosemary Crawford and Donald Crawford, New York Times Book Review,
November 9, 1997, 37.
Journey to the Land of the Flies and Other Travels by Aldo Buzzi, New York Times Book
Review, April 21, 1995, 40.
The Salon Album of Vera Sudeikin-Stravinsky, ed. by John Bowlt, New York Times Book
Review, Dec.24, 1995, 17.
Sergei Prokofiev’s Fiery Angel (new CD recording), Opera News, 2/17/96, 40.
On Wayne Kostenbaum, for Newsletter of New York State Writers’ Institute (Albany,NY),
Vol.XI, No.4, 1+.
Zworkykin, Pioneer of Television by Albert Abramson, in Historical Journal of Film, Radio
and Television, 475.
Tchaikovsky, directed by Igor Talankin, in The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 22, No.3, 363-655
Rocking the State: Rock Music and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia, edited by
Sabrina Petra Ramet, Russian History/Histoire Russe, 22, No.3, 360-63
“Leningrad Was Here” (Petersburg, Crucible of Cultural Revolution by Katerina Clark and
St.Petersburg: A Cultural History by Solomon Volkov) New York times Book Review Dec.3, 1995, 16+
Reviews of new recordings of operas of Rimsky-Korsakov, Opera News, Aug.1995, 35
Review of laser disc of Sergei Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges, Opera News, Nov.1995, 65
The Ransom of Russian Art by John McPhee. New York Times Book Review. (18 December, 1994.) 24.
“The Death of Russian Beauty.” (Vladimir Soloukhin, A Time to Gather Stones.)
New York Times Book Review. (9 January, 1994.) 14.
“Widow of the Revolution.” (Anna Larina, This I Cannot Forget.) The New York Times
Book Review. (21 March, 1993.) 1‑.
“Alexander Borodin. Prince Igor.” (video) Opera Quarterly. (Vol.9, No.2, Winter 1992.) 136-37.
“Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The Tsar’s Bride.”(video) Opera Quarterly. (Vol.8, No.4, Winter 1991/92.) 112-14.
“Young, Hip and Well-Heeled.” (Andrew Solomon, The Irony Tower: Soviet Artists in a
Time of Glasnost.) The New York Times Book Review. (28 July 1991.) 5-6.
“Sergei Taneiev. The Oresteia.” (recording) Opera Quarterly. (Vol.8, No.1, Spring 1991.) 159-161.
“Alexandra Orlova. Glinka’s Life in Music: A Chronicle.” Opera Quarterly. (Vol.7, No.3,
Autumn 1990.) 133-36.
“Stephen Walsh. The Music of Stravinsky.” Slavic Review. (Vol.49, No.3, Fall 1990.) 506-7.
“His Music Never Lied.” (Ian MacDonald, The New Shostakovich.)
The New York Times Book Review. (25 November 1990.) 16.
“Caryl Emerson. Boris Godunov: Transpositions of a Russian Theme.”
Russian Review. (Vol.48, No.1, January 1989.) 115-16.
“The Communist Composer and the Widow Weill.” (Eric Gordon,
Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein, and Donald Spoto, Lenya: A Life.)
American Theatre, Vol.6, No.9, December, 1989. 44-45.
“Chaos, Excitement and Raw Emotion.” (Alec Nove, “Glasnost'” in
Action.) The New York Times Book Review. (10 September 1989.)
“The Brady Bunch Goes to Moscow.” (Jerrold Schecter, Back in the USSR: An American
Family Returns to Moscow.) The New York Times Book Review. (2/12/89.)
“Becoming Boris.” (Victor Borovsky, Chaliapin: A Critical Biography.)
The New York Times Book Review. (16 October 1988.)
“Dissecting Igor: The Music of Igor Stravinsky by Pieter C. van den Toorn;
Confronting Sravinsky: Man, Musician, and Modernist, edited by Jann Pasler; and
Stravinsky Retrospectives, edited by Ethan Haimo and Paul Johnson.”
Opera Quarterly. (Vol.5, Number 4, Winter 1987/88). 101-4.
“Roland John Wiley. Tchaikovsky’s Ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker.”
Slavic and East European Journal. (Vol.31, No.4, Winter 1987).
“Where Simple Miracles Abound.” (Alexander Grin, Selected Short Stories,
trans. Nicholas Luker.) The New York Times Book Review. (20 December 1987).
“Sculpting In Time: Reflections on the Cinema.” Andrey Tarkovsky. Los Angeles Times
Book Review. (19 July 1987).
“Samuel H. Baron and Carl Pletsch, eds. Introspection in Biography: The Biographer’s Quest
for Self-Awareness.” Slavic Review. (Vol.45, No.2, Summer 1986).
“How Siberia Concentrated His Mind.” (Joseph Frank, Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation
1860-1865.) The New York Times Book Review. (31 August 1986).
“Russian Poets in Their Youth.” (Alexander Pasternak, A Vanished Present,
and Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetayeva and Rainer Maria Rilke,
Letters: Summer 1926.) The New York Times Book Review. (21 July 1985).
“Why Migulin Matters.” (Yuri Trifonov, The Old Man.) The New York Times Book
Review. (3 February 1985).
“Yuri Olkhovsky. Vladimir Stasov and Russian National Culture.”
Russian Review. (Vol.43, No.4, October 1984).
“Boris Schwarz. Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia 1957-1981.” Russian Review.
(Vol.43, No.3, July 1984).
“Dmitrii Paperno. Zapiski moskovskogo pianista.” Russian Review.
(Vol.43, No.3, July 1984).
“Malcolm Hamrick Brown, ed. Musorgsky: In Memoriam 1881-1981.”
Russian Review. (Vol.43, No.1, January 1984).
“Six Centuries of Tolstoys.” (Nikolai Tolstoy, The Tolstoys.)
The New York Times Book Review. (6 November 1983).
“A Translator’s Legacy.” (Max Hayward, Writers in Russia: 1917-1978.)
The New York Times Book Review. (9 October 1983.)
“Shchukin’s Matisses and Picassos.” (Beverly Whitney Kean, All the Empty Palaces.)
The New York Times Book Review. (28 August 1983.)
“From Moscow: Fiction, Poems and More.” (Vasily Aksyonov, ed.,
Metropol: Literary Almanac.) The Christian Science Monitor. (12 August 1983.)
“Khrushchev’s Life, Times.” (Roy Medvedev, Khrushchev.) The Christian Science Monitor.
(13 May 1983.)
“Richard Taruskin. Opera and Drama as Preached and Practiced in the 1860s.” SEEJ.
(Spring 1983.)
“Dissident’s Window on Soviet Life.” (Andrei Amalrik, Notes of a Revolutionary.)
The Christian Science Monitor. (9 July 1982.)
“The Eternal Triangle, Russian-Style.” (Alexandra Kollontai, A Great Love.)
The New York Times Book Review. (25 April 1982).
“Paul Schmidt, ed., Meyerhold at Work.” SEEJ. (Winter 1981).
“Russia’s Protest Literature Studied.” (Roy Medvedev, ed., Samizdat Register 2;
and Grigori Svirsky, A History of Post-War Soviet Writing.)
The Christian Science Monitor. (7 October 1981).
“The Reluctant Hero.” (Vladimir Voinovich, Pretender to the Throne.)
The Nation. (5 September 1981).
“Passion Is Better Than Reason.” (Czeslaw Milosz, The Issa Valley
and Selected Poems.) The Nation. (13 June 1981).
“Solzhenitsyn: Shrill.” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Mortal Danger.)
The Christian Science Monitor. (14 July 1980).
“Siberia: Domestic and Imported.” (Viktor Muravin, The Diary of Vikenty Angarov;
Valentin Rasputin, Live and Remember.) The Nation. (9 September 1978), 215-217.
“Solzhenitsyn’s Answer in The Gulag Three.” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Gulag III.)
The San Francisco Chronicle. (25 June 1978).
“Simon Karlinsky and Alfred Appel, Jr. eds., The Bitter Air of Exile: Russian Writers in the
West 1922-1972.” San Francisco Review of Books. (April 1978), 14-15.
“Turgenev: Poet of Lost Opportunities.” (V.S. Pritchett, The Gentle Barbarian.)
San Francisco Review of Books. (Summer 1977).
International Conferences:
“Dmitri Shostakovich: The Man, The Music, The Myth”: introductory lecture and
four-meeting online mini-course for Borderlines Open School (Cambridge, MA),
March 2021. https://borderlinesopenschool.org/webinar0216
Organizer and commentator, “Music for the Masses: Soviet Composer in Search of a
Revolutionary Style,” concert held in connection with conference “Did Ten Days
Shake the World?” at Harvard U., October 6, 2017
“Dancing the Cold War,” An International Symposium at Harriman Institute, Columbia
University, NY, NY, “Hurok and Gosconcert,” February 17, 2017
“Russian Choral Music in Historical Context,” Third International Russian Choral
Music Festival, San Francisco, CA, August 7, 2014
Panel chair, “Performances and Publications: Early Modern Images in Motion,” NU
Grad Student History Conference 2013, “Migration, Mobility and Movements,”
Boston, March 17, 2013
“’My Second Son’: Sergei Prokofiev and Sergei Diaghilev,” The Spirit of Diaghilev,
Boston University, Boston, MA, May 19, 2009
“Prokofiev: The Man and His Music,” Panel on Biography, Prokofiev and His World,
Bard Summerscape, Bard College, August 9, 2008
“Russian Music in Hollywood Cinema,” Russia on Screen: Identity and Appropriation,
Queen Mary, University of London, School of Languages, Linguistics and Film,
May 10, 2008
“Does Leadership In Russia Matter?” Columbia-Harvard Russia-Eurasia Forum,
New York, NY, Feb.21-22, 2008; Panelist on Panel 2: Culture and the Arts
“Russian Dancers and their Image in Hollywood Cinema,” International Symposium
of Russian Ballet, Harriman Institute, Columbia U., New York, NY, Oct.13, 2007
“Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev: Friends or Foes?” Rhodes International Rachmaninoff
Conference, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tenn., Oct.22, 2005
“National Identity in the Ballets of Aram Khachaturian,” International Council for Central
and East European Studies, VII World Congress, Humboldt University, Berlin,
Germany, July 27, 2005
“Prokofiev and America,” University of London (Institute of United States Studies and Serge
Prokofiev Archive), May 8, 2004, “Prokofiev and Hollywood”
Gergiev Festival 2003 (50th anniversary of death of Sergei Prokofiev celebration),
Rotterdam Philharmonic, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Sept.4-13,
Scholar-in-residence, Delivered two lectures, moderated a symposium on the music
and life of Prokofiev, conversation on Pushkin with translator Hans Boland, interview
with Sviatoslav Prokofiev
Visiting Professor in the Humanities at European Mozart Academy, Mala Wies, Poland,
12/2-12/6, 1996
Invited guest and participant in round-table discussions, Sochi Musical Exhibition
(Sochi, Russia), Sept.2-10, 1995
“Shostakovich and Shakespeare,” for “Shostakovich: The Man and His Age 1906-75,”
University of Michigan, January 1994
“Prokofiev In America,” for All-Union Academic Conference “Prokofiev and the Twentieth
Century,” Sponsored by the Composers Union of USSR on the 100th anniversary
of Prokofiev’s birth, Leningrad, USSR, April 1-2, 1991
“Back to Borodin: Alexander Borodin and the Politics of Soviet Music,” for “Prince Igor:
Mother Russia Revisited,” International Symposium Presented by Dallas
Opera, Dallas TX, November 10, 1990
“Prokofiev and Meyerhold: In Search of a Collaboration,” Third World Congress of Slavicists
(AAASS), Washington, D.C., Nov. 1985
National Conferences:
Panelist, “‘Why Am I for Oppressed People?’: Lewis Milestone and Jewish Identity,”
on panel “Russian and East-Central European Exile Filmmakers Negotiating
Jewish Identity in World War II and Postwar Hollywood,” ASEEES Annual
Convention, San Francisco, CA, Nov.23, 2019
Panelist, “Reds and Romanovs: Hollywood’s Projection of the Russian Revolution(s),”
On “Screening Revolutions” panel, ASEEES Annual Convention, Chicago, Ill,
Nov.11, 2017 (also chaired the panel)
Panelist, “Jay Leyda and Music,” Conference “A Curious Man: The Life and Work
Of Jay Leyda,” Mt. Holyoke College, MA, Nov.3, 2017
Panelist, “Socialist Realism Hollywood Style: The Collaboration of Lewis Milestone
And John Steinbeck,” for panel “Émigré Directors in Hollywood: New
Perspectives on (Mutual) Influence,” ASEEES Annual Convention,
Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 2016 (also chair of panel)
Participant, Roundtable on “Bridge of Spies,” (“No Excessive Noise: Music in
‘Bridge of Spies’”), ASEEES Annual Convention, Washington, D.C., Nov. 20, 2016
Organizer and chair, “Uses and Abuses of the Archives in East European Cinema,”
Panel for ASEEES Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, Nov.19, 2015
Panelist, “Recutting History: Archival Strategies in Czech Cinema,” for panel “Uses and
Abuses of the Archives in East European Cinema,” ASEEES Annual Convention,
Philadelphia, PA, Nov.19, 2015
Roundtable member, “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Biography and its Relationship
To Fact,” ASEEES Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, Nov.21, 2015
Panelist, “Ilya Ehrenburg and Lewis Milestone: The Unmade Red Square,” for panel
“Negotiating Cinema: Transnational Directors and Themes in USSR/Russia and the
USA,” ASEEES Annual Convention, Boston, MA, Nov.24, 2013
Discussant, “Staging Others in Soviet Film Music and Staging Soviets in American
Film Music,” ASEEES Annual Convention, Boston, MA, Nov.21, 2013
Discussant, Panel on “One Hundred Years of The Rite of Spring,” Modern Languages
Association Annual Convention, Boston, MA, 1/5/13
Discussant, Panel on “Implications of Film Music in Soviet and Russia Cinema,”
ASEEES National Convention, New Orleans, LA, 11/18/12
Association for Cinema and Media Studies annual convention, Boston, MA, 3/22/12,
“Lewis Milestone: Bringing Montage to Hollywood,” Panel on “Émigré Directors
In Hollywood”; also panel chair
Panel Chair, “Ethnic Diversity in Soviet and Post-Soviet Cinema,” Association for Slavic,
East European and Eurasian Studies annual convention, Washington, D.C.,11/19/2011
“’Transfiguring the Visual’: Music in the Films of Andrei Tarkovsky,” Panel on “Modes
of Expression in Tarkovsky’s Cinema,” AAASS National Convention,
Boston, MA, Nov.13, 2009
“Assembling the Ballets Russes Mosaic Through Its Participants,” Discussant,
AAASS National Convention, Boston, MA, Nov.14, 2009
“America Engages Russia, 1880-1930,” Summer NEH Institute, New York Public
Library, June 2009, Principal Presenter, Performing Arts (2 days)
“The Dream Factory of Communism,” Havighurst Center at Miami University (Ohio),
Oct.25-27, 2007; keynote speaker (“Sidekicks and Stereotypes: Russians and
their Image in the Movies”)
“Music in the Films of Istvan Szabo,” Panel on “Music and Rhetoric in Eastern and Central
Europe,” AAASS National Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov.5, 2005
“Notes on Translating Russian Opera,” Translating Eastern Europe: Arts, Politics and Identity
in Translated Literature Interdisciplinary Conference, Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio, October 2, 2005
“Russians in Hollywood: An Evening with Harlow Robinson,” 12th Annual Massachusetts
Multicultural Film Festival, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, March 9, 2005
“Rimsky-Korsakovs’s Mlada and the Beginnings of Russian Modernism,” American
Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies National Conference,
Boston, MA, Dec.6, 2004
“Bringing Three Oranges Home: Sergei Prokofiev and St.Petersburg,” St.Petersburg
Through American Eyes Celebration, “Return to St.Petersburg” panel,
Harriman Institute at Columbia University, Nov.15, 2003
Participant, “Music and Translation” roundtable, American Literary Translators Association
Annual Conference (Cambridge, MA), Nov.14, 2003
“The St.Petersburg Musical Style,” “St.Petersburg at 300: A Theme in Five Variations,”
Center for Slavic and East European Studies and the Dept.of Slavic and East European
Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University, Oct.17, 2003 (also at Wellesley
College, Nov.10, 2003)
“Doing Accents: The Unlikely Career of Akim Tamiroff,” Modern Languages
Association of America National Conference, New York, NY, December 28, 2002
“Pre-Conference Workshop: Skills and Standards of the Profession, The Job Application
Portfolio,” Annual Meeting, AATSEEL, New York, NY, Dec.28, 2002
Discussant, “Song in Russia and East European Culture and Society,” Annual Meeting,
AATSEEL, New York, Dec.28, 2002
Panel Chair, “Constructions of Gender and Alternative Sexualities from Symbolism to
Xaritonov,” Dec.29, 2002, AATSEEL Annual Meeting,. New York
“Prelude to the Cold War: Pro-Soviet Hollywood Films 1941-45,” Cold War Film and
Culture panel, Annual Meeting of AAASS, Pittsburgh, PA, November 21, 2002
Introduction to screening of Lt.Kije, “Formalists and Film: Beyond Theory
to Practice,” Film Symposium at Harriman Institute, Columbia University, May 3-4, 2002
Panel Chair, “Queer Performance,” AATSEEL National Conference, New Orleans, Dec.29, 2001
Panel Chair, “Central E\uropean Opera,” AATSEEL National Conference, New Orleans, Dec.30, 2001
“Russian and East European Book and Manuscript Collections in the United States,”
Bakhmeteff Archive at Columbia University and Slavic Division, New York
Public Library, New York, NY, Moderator and Commentator, “Russian and East European
Émigré Holdings in the U.S. and Relationship to Western Scholarship,” October 13, 2001
Panelist, “The Futures of Slavic Studies,” Annual Meeting of AATSEEL, San Francisco, CA,
December 29, 1998
“Alfred Schnittke as Film Composer: The Case of Commissar,” Annual Meeting of
AATSEEL, San Francisco, CA, December 28, 1998
Roundtable discussion on Alexandrov’s film Svetlyi put’, Annual Meeting of AAASS,
Nov.14, 1996, Boston, MA
Story of a Real Man: Soviet Music in Stalin’s Final Years,” Annual Meeting of AAASS,
Washington, D.C., 10/27/95
“The Production and Consumption of Culture in Post-Soviet Russia,” roundtable at Annual
Meeting of AAASS, Nov.20, 1994, Philadelphia, PA
“Dmitri Shostakovich as a Film Composer,” Annual Meeting of AATSEEL,
San Diego, CA, December 1994
“Gay Themes in Tennessee Williams on the Russian Stage,” Annual Meeting of AATSEEL,
San Diego, CA, December 1994
“Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and the Russian Ballet Tradition,” Conference on
Romeo and Juliet sponsored by National Dance Critics Association and the San
Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum, San Francisco, CA, March 12,1994
“Roundtable on Glasnost, Post-Glasnost and Popular Culture,” Convention of American
Association for Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), Phoenix, AZ, November 20, 1992
“Changing Attitudes Towards Homosexuality in the Former USSR,” National Convention of
AAASS, Miami, Fla., November 22, 1991
“Roundtable On Glasnost and Popular Culture: Music,” National Convention of AAASS,
Miami, Fla., November 24, 1991
“Flirting With Decadence: Sergei Prokofiev and Ognennyi angel,” National Convention of
AAASS, Washington, D.C., October 20, 1990
“All Aboard ‘Tramvai Zhelanie’: Tennessee Williams on the Soviet Stage,” American
Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL),
Washington, D.C., December, 1988
“Sergei Prokofiev and Soviet Culture,” AATSEEL, Washington, D.C., December 1984.
“Music in the Post-Brezhnev Period,” Annual Meeting of the AAASS, New York, NY,
November 1984.
“Dmitri Shostakovich as a Composer of Songs: The Tsvetaeva Cycle,” Annual Meeting of
AAASS, November 1984. Also acted as Chairman for the panel “Words and Music:
Russian Songs.”
“Prokofiev and the Poets.” Annual Meeting of the AAASS, Kansas City, MO, October 1983
and annual meeting of the NY-NJ chapter of ATSEEL, Albany, NY, October, 1983.
“Dostoevsky and Opera: Prokofiev’s The Gambler,” AATSEEL, Houston, December 1980
(North American Dostoevsky Society).
Other Invited Lectures and Presentations:
“Prelude” pre-concert talk (Stravinsky, Beethoven, Kendall), Aspen Music Festival, July 11, 2021
“Lewis Milestone: A Hollywood Life,” Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences Film Scholar Lecture, Mary Pickford Center for Motion Picture
Study, Los Angeles, CA, March 9, 2020
Organizer and moderator, “Andris Nelsons in Conversation on Shostakovich,”
with BSO conductor Andris Nelsons and BSO Artistic Administration Anthony Fogg,
at Northeastern U., January 29, 2020
“Lewis Milestone: From Kishinev to Hollywood,” Harriman Institute, Columbia U, January 27, 2020
“Napoleon Complex: Untangling the Politics of Tosca,” Insight Series,
Annapolis Opera, Annapolis, MD, Oct. 19, 2019
“Prelude” pre-concert talk (Tchaikovsky, Copland), Aspen Music Festival,
Aspen, CO, July 13, 2019
Featured participant in panel discussion on David Oistrakh in “Great Russian Jews”
series, Davis Center for Russian Studies, Harvard University, March 13, 2019
Pre-concert talk, Russian National Orchestra, Great Performers at Lincoln Center,
New York, NY (Rachmaninoff), February 20, 2019
“Jewish Themes in Russian Music,” Yom Limmud (Day of Learning), Leo Baeck
Temple, Los Angeles, CA, February 2, 2019
Seminar on Bartok “Bluebeard’s Castle” and Tchaikovsky “Iolanta,” Metropolitan
Opera Guild lecture series, January 26, 2019
Pre-concert talk, (Shostakovich, Dzenitis, Tchaikovsky), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Nov.9, 2018
“Prelude” pre-concert talk (Debussy, Ravel/Mussorgsky, Trifonov), Aspen Music
Festival, Aspen, CO, July 15, 2018
Pre-concert talk, Los Angeles Philharmonic (Shostakovich, Varese, Pekka-Salonen),
Lincoln Center, New York, NY April 27, 2018
“Spring Flood: Russian and German Romances,” pre-concert talk, Gerald Finley recital,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., April 25, 2018
Pre-performance talk (Stravinsky, Webern, Bartok), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Jan.12, 2018
Introduction to screening of Reds, opening of John Reed Exhibition, Davis Center
For Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard U., Oct. 23, 2017
Two lectures on Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” for Metropolitan Opera HD Festival,
Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York, NY, Aug.31 and Sept.1, 2017
“Prelude: Preconcert Talk (Lutoslawski, Beethoven, Debussy),” Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, CO,
July 16, 2017
“Listener’s Master Class: Strategies of Enchantment,” Aspen Music Festival, July 14, 2017
“Poetic Tragedy: Eugene Onegin,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series, New York, NY,
April 3, 2017
“A Tale of Two Sergeis (and Mikhail),” pre-concert lecture, London Philharmonic
Orchestra (Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev), Great Performers Series, Lincoln Center
for Performing Arts, New York, March 6, 2017
Moderator and translator for pre-performance conversation with composer Sophia
Gubaidulina, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Feb.24, 2017
Pre-performance talk (Weinberg, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Jan.20, 2017
“Performance Plus” lecture, (Prokofiev, Shostakovich), for China Philharmonic,
Tilles Center for Performing Arts, Long Island U, Dec.10, 2016
“Sin and Redemption: Jenufa,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series, New York,
New York, Nov. 7, 2016
“Prelude” pre-performance lecture (Shostakovich Symphony No.8, Tchaikovsky Violin
Concerto), Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, CO, July 17, 2016
“Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia,” Introductory and post-screening remarks for
film screening at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, May 7, 2016
“Lewis Milestone and Sergei Eisenstein,” Slavic Seminars, Columbia University,
New York, NY, April 1, 2016
Pre-performance talk (Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Kancheli), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Boston, MA, March 25, 2016
“Shostakovich and His Ballets,” Introductory remarks to screening of Bolt, Bolshoi
Post-Modern Series, Ballets Russes Arts Initiative, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
MA, March 5, 2016
“The Gypsy’s Revenge: Verdi’s Il Trovatore,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
New York, NY, Feb.3, 2016
“Orientalism and Bizet’s ‘The Pearl Fishers,’” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
New York, NY Jan.12, 2016
Presentation on Russian musical tradition for “Eat, Drink and Feel Russian,” Newton
Festival of the Arts, May 6, 2015, Newton, MA
“Performance Plus” lecture (Beethoven, Faure, Vitali), Tilles Center for Performing
Arts, Long Island U, October 24, 2015
“Prelude” pre-performance talk (Prokofiev, Debussy, Stravinsky), Aspen Music Festival,
Aspen, Colo, July 26, 2015
Panelist for post-performance discussion of “Victory Over the Sun,” Boston University
Humanities Center, April 23, 2015
“Kát’a Kabanová: Musical Nationalism and Folklore in Opera,” Boston Lyric Opera
Lecture-performance, Boston Public Library, February 24, 2015
Pre-performance talk, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Scriabin, Prokofiev), Carnegie
Hall, NY, NY, Feb.1, 2015
Pre-performance talk (Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saens, Berlioz), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, January 23, 2015
“The Subversive Power of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Metropolitan Opera Guild
Lecture Series, New York, NY, Nov.10, 2014
PerformancePLUS! Lecture, Russian State Symphony Orchestra (Tchaikovsky,
Rachmaninoff), Tilles Performing Arts Center, Long Island U, Nov.9, 2014
Pre-performance talk (Gubaidulina, Sibelius), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
November 7, 2014
“Beaumarchais and Opera: A Study Day,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture Series,
New York, NY, Oct.5, 2014
“Prelude” Pre-Performance talk (Saint-Saens, Falla, Bruch), Aspen Music Festival,
Aspen, Colo, 7/13/14
Pre-performance talk (Rimsky-Korsakov, Vaughan Williams, Sergei Prokofiev),
Boston Symphony Orchestra, March 28, 2014
“The Many Lives of Prince Igor,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture Series,
New York, NY, Feb.6 and 8, 2014
Pre-performance talk (Shostakovich, Wagner, Lutoslawski), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Jan.23-25, 2014
PerformancePLUS! Lecture, New York Philharmonic (Lindberg, Rouse, Tchaikovsky),
Tilles Performing Arts Center, Long Island U, Jan.4, 2014
“Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem: Music for the Cold War,” Boston Symphony Orchestra
“Insights” series lecture, Nov.4, 2013
Intermission conversation with Naomi Lewin, WQXR, screening of Royal Opera Covent
Garden Eugene Onegin, Symphony Space, NY, NY, Oct.13, 2013
“Shaping Fantasies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” pre-performance talk for Metropolitan
Opera Guild, NY, NY, Oct.15, 2013
Pre-performance talk (Rachmaninoff, Respighi, Debussy), Aspen Music Festival,
Aspen, Colo, 7/6/13
“Performance Plus” lecture, Tilles Center for Performing Arts, Long Island U.
(Prokofiev, Schubert, Strauss), 4/27/13
James Laurence Michel Memorial Lecture Series, Lowell House Opera, Harvard U.,
“Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Shakespearean Opera,” 3/26/13
Pre-performance talk (Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Feb.1, 2013
NU Faculty Speaker for Arts Alive NU Alumni Association event, The Nutcracker at
Boston Ballet, Dec.1, 2012
“Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera: History and Opera,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture
Series, Nov.12, 2012
Pre-performance talk (Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Sierra), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Nov.9, 2012
“The Tempest and Opera of Today,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
New York, NY, Oct.23, 2012
“Prelude: Preconcert Talk” (Wagner, Saint-Saens, Messiaen), Aspen Music Festival,
Aspen, CO, August 12, 2012
“Janacek, Capek and The Makropoulos Case,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
New York, NY, May 1, 2012
“Twentieth Century Film Series I: Influence of Russians in Film and Hollywood,”
NU at noon, NU Alumni Association, Burlington campus, April 25, 2012
“Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina: Opera for the People,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture
Series, New York, NY, Feb.24, 2012
Pre-performance talk (Shostakovich, Ravel, Stravinsky), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Feb.17, 2012
“Performance Plus” lecture on Mahler and Thomas Ades, Tilles Center, Long Island U.,
Jan.6, 2012
“Prelude: Preconcert Talk,” on Prokofiev, Christopher Rouse, Wagner; Aspen Music
Festival, Aspen, CO, July 24, 2011
“Performance Plus” lecture on Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, Dvorak, St.Petersburg
Philharmonic, Tilles Center, Long Island U., April 16, 2011
Pre-concert talks (Prokofiev, Musorgsky, Beethoven), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Feb.3-8, 2011
Pre-concert talks (Scriabin, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Jan.20-25, 2011
“Under the Influence: American Writers and Russian Literature,” English Lunch
Club, Concord, MA, November 20, 2010
“All About Boris: Murder, Mayhem and Music,” lecture on Mussorgsky’s opera
Boris Godunov, Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York, NY, October 18, 2010
“Prelude” pre-concert talk (Mahler, Ravel, Stravinsky), Aspen Music Festival,
August 22, 2010
Pre-concert lectures (Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Ligeti), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, April 13-17, 2010
Pre-concert lecture (Prokofiev, Beethoven), Schleswig-Holstein Orchestra, Tilles
Center for Performing Arts, Long Island U., March 19, 2010
Pre-concert lectures (Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev, Albeniz), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, March 10-16, 2010
“A Nose on the Run,” on Shostakovich’s opera, Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture
series, NY, NY, March 8, 2010
“’A Spark of God’: Leos Janacek and From the House of the Dead,” Metropolitan
Opera Guild lecture series, NY, NY, Nov.12, 2009
“Alexander Pushkin and Opera,” roundtable discussion, Little Opera Theater of
New York, Oct.18, 2009 (in connection with performance of Rimsky-Korsakov
Mozart and Salieri, in my translation with Thaddeus Motyka)
Pre-concert lectures (Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Shostakovich), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, October 8-13, 2009
Moderator for post-performance conversation with Mark Morris and Simon Morrison,
following performance of Romeo and Juliet, Lincoln Center for Performing
Arts, New York, May 15, 2009
Pre-concert lectures (Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
April 23-25, 2009
Pre-concert lecture (Liadov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev), National Philharmonic of Russia,
Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Long Island U., April 18, 2009
Moderator and participant in symposium, “20th Century Master: Sergei Prokofiev’s
Symphonic Legacy,” “Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev,”
Lincoln Center, NY, NY, March 29, 2009
Pre-concert lecture on Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphonies Nos.2, 7 and Violin Concerto No.1,
“Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev,” Lincoln Center, NY, NY,
March 24, 2009
“Perspectives on Prokofiev,” introductory lecture for Chamber Music Society of Lincoln
Center Around Prokofiev Festival, March 3, 2009
“Evenings of Contemporary Music,” Recreation of 1908 St.Petersburg Concert, concept
and narrative script, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Around Prokofiev
Festival, March 5, 2009
“Mother Russia: Tchaikovsky’s Heroines as Cultural Role Models,” Metropolitan Opera
Guild lecture series, New York, NY, Feb.2, 2009
“The Queen of Spades and Gambling in Opera,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
New York, NY, Nov.26, 2008
Pre-concert lecture (Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Brahms/Rubbra), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Nov.20-25, 2008
Pre-concert lecture on Sergei Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges, “Russian Dreams:
The Music of Sergei Prokofiev,” Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Nov.16, 2008
Moderator and participant in symposium, “Stages of Life: Sergei Prokofiev’s Music for
Theater and Cinema,” “Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev,”
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Nov.9, 2008
Pre-concert lecture (Prokofiev, Bernstein, Knussen), San Francisco Symphony,
Tilles Center for Performing Arts, Long Island U., Sept.27, 2008
Prelude Pre-Concert Talk (Sibelius, Schuman, Rodrigo), Aspen Music Festival,
Aspen, Colo, August 3, 2008
“’Somewhere, My Love’: Hollywood Composers Imagine Russia,” Clowes Lecture,
Dept.of Russian, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, April 8, 2008
“The New Wagner? Sergei Prokofiev and The Gambler,” Metropolitan Opera Guild
lecture series, March 27, 2008
Pre-concert lecture (Shostakovich, Schumann), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
March 13-15, 2008
Pre-concert lecture (Shostakovich, Sibelius), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Feb.14-16, 2008
“Composing for Victory: Sergei Prokofiev’s War and Peace in Context,” lecture for
Metropolitan Opera Guild, December 3, 2007
Introduction for Silk Stockings, “The Cold War in Film: The View from Both Sides,”
Harriman Institute, Columbia U., November 27, 2007
Pre-concert lecture (Beethoven, Prokofiev, Mozart), Tilles Center for the Arts,
Long Island University, Nov.3, 2007
Pre-concert lecture (Gandolfi, Poulenc, Tchaikovsky), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
October 11-16, 2007
Introduction and discussion of White Nights, “The Cold War in Film: The View from Both
Sides,” Harriman Institute, Columbia University, March 20, 2007
Pre-concert lecture (Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich), National Philharmonic
Of Russia, Tilles Center for the Arts at Long Island University, March 17, 2007
Pre-concert lecture (Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov), Russian National Orchestra,
Lincoln Center, NY, NY, March 18, 2007
Pre-concert lectures (Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, March 8-13, 2007
“Eugene Onegin: Opera as Therapy,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
New York, NY, February 13, 2007
“Jenufa: From Lust to Redemption,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
New York, NY, January 29, 2007
Moderator for “An Evening with Karita Mattila and Anja Silja,” Metropolitan Opera
Guild Interviews with Met Singers, New York, NY, Feb.1, 2007
Pre-concert lectures (Rachmaninoff, Harbison, Mozart), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
January 11-16, 2007
Introduction and discussion of Jet Pilot, “The Cold War in Film: The View from Both
Sides,” Harriman Institute, Columbia University, Nov.29, 2006
“Sidekicks and Stereotypes: Russians and their Image in the Movies,” Matthews
Distinguished University Professor Annual Lecture, Nov.2, 2006,
Northeastern University
“Russian Music in Peace and War,” (Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich), Tilles Center at Long
Island University, Oct.28, 2006
Pre-concert lectures (Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Oct.12-14, 2006
Pre-concert lectures and panel discussion, “Britten-Shostakovich Festival,”
Aspen Music Festival and School, August 6-12, 2006
Pre-concert lectures and panel discussion, “Forbidden Music: Suppressed Voices”
Mini-Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, July 10-15, 2006
Moderator of post-concert discussion with members of Emerson String Quartet (Shostakovich
Quartets 13, 14, 15), Jordan Hall, Boston, MA, April 21, 2006
Pre-concert lecture (Shostakovich Symphonies 3, 4), Rotterdam Philharmonic,
Lincoln Center, New York, NY, April 9, 2006
Pre-concert lectures (Mussorgsky,Tchaikovsky,Brahms), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
March 31-April 1, 2006
“Tchaikovsky and Mazeppa, Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series, February 28, 2006;
also for Metropolitan Opera Guild Opera Experience continuing education
program, March 2, 2006
Pre-concert lectures (Schnittke, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven) for Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Nov.10-15, 2005
“Rachmaninoff and Bartok,” pre-concert discussion with David Loebel, Music Director of
Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Memphis, Tenn., Oct.22, 2005
“To Russia with Classicism: Mozart and Russian Music,” pre-concert lecture, Mostly Mozart
Festival, Lincoln Center, NY, NY, August 16, 2005
Pre-concert lecture/discussion on music of Prokofiev and Maw with composer Nicholas Maw,
Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, Colo, July 24, 2005
Pre-concert lectures (Shostakovich, Viktor Ullmann), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
January 19-25, 2005
“A Conversation About Czech Opera,” with conductor Jiri Belohlavek and translator
Yvetta Synek Graff, Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series (NY, NY), Dec.15, 2004
“Janacek and Katya Kabanova,” Opera Experience lecture series, Metropolitan Opera Guild,
Dec.2, 2004
Pre-concert lectures (Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Ravel), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Oct.7-12, 2004
“The Representation of 19th Century Russia in American Cinema,” New England Regional
Conference of AATSEEL (“New Approaches to 19th Century Russian Literature and
Culture”), Yale University, New Haven, Conn., April 3, 2004; Literary Study Group,
Davis Center for Russian Studies, Harvard University, Oct.13, 2004
“Tchaikovsky and Russian Opera,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Opera Experience lecture
series, February 26, 2004
Pre-concert lectures (Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Glazunov, Sibelius), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Feb.19-24, 2004
Interview-discussion with conductor Semyon Bychkov on Russian Opera, Metropolitan Opera
Guild lecture Series, Feb. 4, 2004 (NY,NY)
“Musorgsky, Tchaikovsky and the Struggle for Russian Opera,” Metropolitan Opera Guild
lecture series, Jan.28, 2004 (NY,NY)
“Diaghilev’s Two Sons: Prokofiev and Stravinsky in Paris,” Graduate Forum, Doctor of
Musical Arts program, Juilliard School (NY,NY), Nov.18, 2003
Moderator and panelist, “Dancing Through Time: St.Petersburg, the Kirov and Ballet into
the 21st Century,” Shubert Theater, Boston, Nov.10, 2003, Fleet Celebrity Series
presentation in honor of the Kirov Ballet performances at the Wang Center, Boston
Pre-concert lectures (Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Nov.4-8, 2003
“Russian Choral Music: An Introduction,” Yale Alumni Association “The Arts at Yale”
program, Oct.25, 2003
“The Prokofiev Diaries,” Opening Symposium for the exhibition “Prokofiev and His
Contemporaries: The Impact of Soviet Culture,” New York Public Library for the
Performing Arts, October 15, 2003
“The Three Faces of Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Nightingale, Oedipus Rex,” Metropolitan
Opera Guild lecture series, October 4, 2003 and Opera Experience Lecture
Series, October 16, 2003 (New York, NY)
“The Life and Music of Prokofiev,” Symposium for Prokofiev Marathon at Lincoln Center
Festival, July 19, 2003, New York, NY
“Russia Today,” Clarke Middle School, Lexington, MA, 6/12/03
“Russians in Hollywood: Prokofiev, Eisenstein, Pilnyak,” Literature Study Group, Davis
Center for Eurasian Studies, Harvard University, April 30, 2003
“Rediscovering the Operas of Sergei Prokofiev,” New England Opera Club Spring Meeting,
Newton Free Library, Newton, MA, April 27, 2003
Pre-concert lectures (Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Gubaidulina), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
April 17-19, 2003
“Russian Music in Hollywood,” American Musicological Society New England Chapter,
Spring meeting, April 12, 2003, Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.
“Leos Janacek’s Jenufa,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture Series, January 25, 2003
New York, NY
Erich Leinsdorf Lecture (“Stravinsky and Leinsdorf”), New York Philharmonic,
January 8, 2003
Pre-concert lectures (Copland, Shostakovich, Ravel), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Oct.30-Nov.2, 2002
Organizer, commentator and moderator, “Russian Festival,” Opening Symposium, San
Francisco Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco, CA, June 13, 2002
Pre-concert lectures (Balakirev, Rachmaninoff, Tcherepnin, Stravinsky), San Francisco
Symphony “Russian Festival,” June 14-15, 2002
Pre-concert lectures (Lyadov, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky), San Francisco Symphony
“Russian Festival,” June 19-20, 2002
Pre-concert lectures (Shostakovich), San Francisco Symphony “Russian Festival,”
June 21-22, 2002
Pre-concert lectures (Rimsky-Korsakov Mlada), San Francisco Symphony “Russian
Festival,” June 27, 29, 30, 2002
“War and Peace and Eugene Onegin,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Opera Experience
lecture series, March 14, 2002
“Prokofiev, Tolstoy and War and Peace,” Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series
symposium on War and Peace, Feb.13,2002
Pre-concert lectures (Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn, Faure), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Jan.24-26, 2002
Pre-concert lecture (Shostakovich, Scriabin, Part, Stravinsky), Colorado Symphony “Spirit of
Russia” Festival, January 3, 2002
Pre-concert lecture (Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky), Colorado Symphony “Spirit of Russia”
Festival, January 4 and 5, 2002
Pre-concert lecture (Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Part), Colorado Symphony “Spirit of Russia”
Festival, January 6, 2002
Pre-concert lectures (Shostakovich, Wagner, Schoenberg), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
November 15-20, 2001
Eugene Onegin, Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series, NY,NY, 10/01/01
Pre-concert lectures (Shostakovich, Mahler), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
May 1 and 4, 2001
Pre-concert lecture (Dvorak, Martinu, Zelenka, Janacek), Chamber Music Society of Lincoln
Center, April 22, 2001
Pre-concert lectures (Dvorak, Martinu, Mozart), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
March 16-17, 2001
“Russian Music at Home and Abroad,” Series on Russian Culture Today, Metropolitan
Museum of Art (NY,NY), March 20, 2001
Pre-concert lectures (Janacek, Prokofiev, John Adams), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
March 1-3, 2001
Pre-concert lecture (Lutoslawski, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff), Westchester
Philharmonic, (Purchase, NY), March 4, 2001
“Sergei Prokofiev and The Gambler,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture Series,
March 5, 2001; and Opera Experience Lecture Series, March 22, 2001
Pre-concert lecture (Glinka, Shostakovich), Noontime Concert, “Russian Music for Viola,”
Northeastern University, February 22, 2001
Pre-concert lectures on Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Boston Symphony Orchestra,
January 18-23, 2001
“The Theme of Jewishness in the Music and Life of Dmitri Shostakovich,” Boston University
School of Fine Arts, Nov.15, 2000
“Aaron Copland and the Politics of The North Star,” “Copland at 100” Festival,
Northeastern University, October 25, 2000; and for Cinema Studies Colloquium,
Northeastern U., January 31, 2002
Pre-screening lectures on Aaron Copland’s film music for The Cummington Story and
Our Town (July 24, 2000) and Of Mice and Men (July 26, 2000), Boston
Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood Music Festival
“Debussy and Pelleas et Melisande,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Pre-Performance Lecture
Series, April 8, 2000
Pre-performance lectures on Sofia Gubaidulina and Tchaikovsky, Boston Symphony
Orchestra, March 8,9,10,14, 2000
“Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture Series
and Opera Experience lecture series, NY,NY, 3/2/ and 3/18, 2000
Moderator and participant in panel discussion on Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with conductor
Valery Gergiev and director Graham Vick, Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture series,
NY,NY, 3/1/2000
Moderator of on-stage discussion with Martha Clarke about Vers la flamme, Tilles
Center for the Performing Arts, Feb.25, 2000
Pre-performance lecture for Program I (Quartets 1,2,3) of Shostakovich String Quartets cycle
by Emerson Quartet, February 6, 2000, Great Performers at Lincoln Center, NY,NY
Organizer and moderator of day-long Shostakovich Symposium sponsored by Great
Performers at Lincoln Center, February 12, 2000
“Shostakovich and Shakespeare,” for Shostakovich Symposium at Lincoln Center, 2/12/2000
Pre-performance lecture for Program II (Quartets 4,5,6) of Shostakovich String Quartets
Cycle by Emerson Quartet, February 13, 2000, Great Performers at Lincoln Center
Pre-screening introduction and post-screening moderator of discussion of film “Rothschild’s
Violin,” Lincoln Center Film Society, February 14, 2000
Pre-performance lectures (Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Vasks), Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Nov18-20, 1999
Pre-performance lectures (Prokofiev, Ravel, Blacher), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
October 29, 30, 31, 1999
Pre-performance lectures (Stravinsky Persephone and Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto),
New York Philharmonic, NY,NY, Oct.1-5, 1999
“Works and Process at the Guggenheim,” Moderator of discussion of Vers la flamme with
Martha Clarke and Christopher O’Riley, Guggenheim Museum (NY,NY) 9/12/99
Pre-open rehearsal lecture for Boston Symphony at Tanglewood Music Festival, August 14,
1999 (Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff)
Pre-performance lecture for Mostly Mozart Festival, Lincoln Center, NY, NY,
August 5, 1999 (Mozart, Herrmann, Dreznin)
Pre-performance talks on Martha Clarke’s Vers la flamme, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival,
July 21-25, 1999; and at New Victory Theater (NY,NY) Sept.15-19, 1999
Pre-open rehearsal lecture for Boston Symphony at Tanglewood Music Festival, 7/24/99
(Gabrieli, Tan Dun, Tchaikovsky, Mahler)
Pre-performance lectures and interviews, New York Philharmonic (Tan Dun, Richard Strauss,
William Grant Still), NY, NY 6/3, 6/4,6/5,6/8, 1999
Pre-performance lecture (“Russian Music from Romanticism to Revolution”), Lincoln Center,
Russian State Symphony, NY, NY, 1/31/99
Pre-performance lectures (Stravinsky, Debussy, Mozart), Boston Symphony Orchestra,
February 4,5,6,1999
Pre-performance lecture (“Dmitri Shostakovich: The Hamlet of Russian Music”), Lincoln
Center, Concertgebouw Orchestra, NY,NY 2/14/99
Pre-performance lecture (Stravinsky, Vivaldi), Boston Symphony Orchestra, 2/26/99
“Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades”. for Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department
and Lecture Series, March 4 and 9, 1999, NY,NY
“Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina,” for Metropolitan Opera Guild Lecture Series,NY,NY,
3/13/99
Pre-performance lectures (Kodaly, Bartok, Prokofiev) for Boston Symphony Orchestra,
March 18 and 20, 1999
Pre-performance lecture (“Beethoven and Shostakovich”) at Philadelphia Orchestra,
Philadelphia, PA, January 5, 1999
Pre-performance lecture (“Music and Musicians of St.Petersburg”) at Bushnell Memorial
Auditorium (Hartford, CT) for St.Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, 11/13/98
Pre-screening introduction to Rothschild’s Violin, Boston Jewish Film Festival,
Coolidge Corner Cinema, 11/8/98
Pre-performance lectures on Haydn, Beethoven and Tippett for Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Oct.8,9,10, 1998
Interview with Finnish soprano Karita Mattila for Metropolitan Opera Guild lecture
series, NY, NY, Oct.7, 1998
Three panel presentations and one pre-concert lecture for the Bard Festival, August 1998
(Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY), “Tchaikovsky and His World”
Pre-performance lectures on Mazeppa, Ruslan and Ludmila, Betrothal in a Monastery,
Prince Igor for Kirov Opera Festival at the Metropolitan Opera (NY,NY),
4/24/98-5/1/98
Pre-screening lecture on Commissar , Coolidge Corner Cinema (Brookline, MA),
Northeastern University Ukrainian-Jewish Arts Festival, 4/30/98
Pre-concert lecture on Bach and Shostakovich, Lincoln Center, NY,NY, 5/13/98
Pre-concert lectures on Zemlinsky, Rachmaninoff, Liszt for New York Philharmonic,
May 14 and 15, 1998
“Reinventing Russian Music,” for “Reimagining Russia” Conference at College of William
and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., 4/4/98
“Russian Revelations,” Pre-concert lecture for Westchester Philharmonic, SUNY-Purchase,
3/15/98
Pre-concert lecture on Rachmaninoff, Barber, Mozart for Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Boston, MA, 2/26/98
“What A Difference a Year Makes: Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky,” pre-concert lecture at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, NY,NY 2/15/98
Pre-concert lecture on Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich for Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Boston, MA, 1/28/98
Pre-concert lecture on Janacek, Dvorak, Szymanowski for Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Boston, MA, 1/10/98
Pre-screening introduction to Ninotchka, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Boston, MA, for Library
of Congress National Film Registry Tour, 12/17/97
Pre-concert lecture on Dvorak, Stravinsky, Prokofiev for Boston SO, 10/22/97
“Shakespeare in Russia,” Annual Shakespeare Birthday Lecture, Northeastern University,
4/24/97
Moderator for discussion with production staff of Eugene Onegin, Metropolitan Opera
Lecture Series, 3/11/97
“Prokofiev, Eisenstein and Alexander Nevsky,” Philadelphia Orchestra, 3/8/97
Eugene Onegin, Metropolitan Opera Lecture Series, 2/25/97
“The Russians in Hollywood,” Stetson University (DeLand, Fla.), 2/11/97
“Music and Musical Life in St.Petersburg,” Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY, NY), 2/5/97
“Alban Berg’s Wozzeck,” Metropolitan Opera Lecture Series (NY,NY), 1/29/97
“Three Faces of Russian Music,” New York Philharmonic pre-concert lecture, 12/12, 12/13
and 12/17/96
“How Do Biographers Do It?,” Hudson-Mohawk Library Association (Albany, NY), 9/27/96
“Russian Singers at the Met,” Marcella Sembrich Museum (Bolton Landing, NY), 8/21/96
“Stravinsky and the Symphony,” pre-concert lecture for Lincoln Center, Inc. (NY,NY),
3/25/96
“Bartok and Brahms,” New York Philharmonic pre-concert lecture, 3/15 and 3/16/96
“On Researching the Russians in Hollywood,” Biogroup (Los Angeles, CA), 2/14/96
The Makropulos Case, for Metropolitan Opera Lecture Series, 1/20/96
Lecture-discussion on The Makropulos Case, Metropolitan Opera Lecture Series, 12/20/95
“Impressionism in Music” (Ravel and Rachmaninoff), pre-concert lecture for
Lincoln Center, Inc., 12/13/95
Moderator for two pre-performance discussions and symposium for New York Philharmonic
Ivan the Terrible Celebration, June 1-3, 1995, Lincoln Center
Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, Metropolitan Opera Lecture Series, 10/18/95
“Understanding Russia Through Its Culture,” St.Johnsville (NY) Public Library, 10/23/95
“Arvo Part and Medieval Modernism,” Pre-concert lecture for Lincoln Center, Inc., 11/2/95
“Varieties of Romanticism: Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky,” pre-concert lecture for
Lincoln Center, Inc., 11/6/95
“Sergei Prokofiev: A Knight for the Opera,” San Francisco Performing Arts Library and
Museum, San Francisco, CA, 6/15/95
Pre-concert lecture on Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Schnittke for Westchester Philharmonic
Orchestra (3/19/95) at SUNY College at Purchase
Pre-concert lectures on Rimsky-Korsakov and Musorgsky for New York Philharmonic
(3/3/95 and 3/7/95), NY, NY
Pre-concert lectures on Shostakovich and Beethoven for New York Philharmonic
(4/5/95 and 4/8/95), NY, NY
Theodore Wenzl Memorial Lecture on Sol Hurok, Bethlehem (NY) Public Library, 11/14/94
“Tchaikovsky: A European from Russia,” lecture for Dept. of Slavic
Languages & Literatures and Program in Russian and East European Studies,
University of Texas, Austin, TX (2/21/95)
“Shostakovich: The Guilty Conscience of Soviet Culture,” Keynote lecture for Brown Symposium,
Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX, 2/23/95; also delivered five pre-concert
lectures on Shostakovich’s string quartets and participated in symposium on
Shostakovich and Soviet culture (February 22-26, 1995)
“Shostakovich Public and Private,” Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (NY,NY),
pre-concert lecture, 10/30/94
Two lectures on Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for Metropolitan Opera
Guild, New York, NY (10/26/94 and 11/10/94)
Moderator for Symposium on Shostakovich and his string quartets, Lincoln Center, 11/2/94
“A Dramatized Portrait of Shostakovich Through Poetry”; theater script authored by me
and read by four actors at Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center, NYC), 11/16/94
“Sol Hurok: An Impresario’s Life,” Special Session for 38th Annual Conference of
the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, 12/17/94 (NY, NY)
“Censorship in the Post-Communist Era,” Keynote Address for New York Civil Liberties Union,
Capital Region Chapter, Albany, NY, May 4, 1994
Featured lecturer for National Library Week, William K.Sanford Town Library, Colonie,
NY, April 20, 1994
Pre-concert lecturer for concert by the Moscow Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall,
Lincoln Center (NY, NY), March 20, 1994
Pre-concert panelist for “The Breakup of the Soviet Union: A Musical Mirror,” American
Symphony Orchestra, February 18, 1994, Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY
“Tchaikovsky: A European From Russia,” Bowling Green State U., Bowling Green, OH
November 7, 1993
Lecturer for concert and symposium on Dmitri Shostakovich at Southwestern University
School of Fine Arts (Georgetown, TX), February 5-6, 1993
“Dmitri Shostakovich: Dissident or Patriot?” for Symposium on Russian Music at Middlebury
College (Middlebury, VT), October 22, 1992
“Lincoln Center Off Stage: An Evening of Conversation with Oleg Prokofiev and Harlow
Robinson,” October 17, 1991, NY, NY
“Prokofiev Remembered”: Two Pre-Performance Lectures at Town Hall on the 100th
anniversary of Prokofiev’s birth, New York, NY, April 22 and 23, 1991
“The Humanities in American Education,” Leningrad State Conservatory, Leningrad, USSR,
April 8, 1991
“Prokofiev and the Movies,” Pittsburgh Symphony Pre-performance lecture, Pittsburgh, PA,
March 1, 1991
“On Writing a Biography of Sol Hurok,” Biography Seminar, Department of English,
New York University, November 1, 1990; Also for Works-In-Progress Series,
Center for Arts & Humanities, University at Albany, April 19, 1990
“Recent Developments in the USSR,” Presentation for Board of Directors Retreat, Johnson &
Higgins Co., Williamsburg, Va. October 23, 1990
“Dmitri Shostakovich: Life and Art,” Shostakovich Festival, Manhattan String Quartet and
Chamber Music in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, October 14, 1990
“Prokofiev and War and Peace,” War and Peace Symposium, Seattle Opera, Seattle, WA,
July 28, 1990
“Media and Culture Under Glasnost,” Mid-Hudson Social Studies Council Spring Conference,
Kingston, NY, May 3, 1990
“Taking the Lid Off: Culture Under Glasnost,” Global Education Seminar on USSR and Eastern
Europe, Mercy College, February 9, 1990
“Gorbachev’s Soviet Union: Politics and Culture,” “The Changing Faces of Socialism: The
Soviet Union” Campus Forum, SUNY-Albany, November 8, 1989 (with Prof. Erik Hoffmann)
“Shostakovich and Soviet Culture,” Pre-performance lecture at Town Hall for Manhattan String
Quartet “The Soul of Shostakovich” series, New York, NY, October 23, 1989
“Between Rock and a Hard Place: Music Under Glasnost,” Seminar on Slavic History and
Cultures, Columbia University, New York, NY, February 1989
“Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Soviet Film,” Amherst College Russian Department, 12/88
“Of Theater, Circuses, Music, and Film: Popular Culture in the USSR,” “Life in the Soviet Union”
Series, UCLA Extension, September, 1988.
“Katya Kabanova: The Russian Connection,” Los Angeles Music Center Opera League Seminar
on Katya Kabanova, UCLA Faculty Center, September, 1988.
“Theatrical Life in the United States,” Department of Marxist- Leninist Aesthetics, Moscow
State University, April, 1988.
“From Rachmaninoff to Rock: Music in the USSR,” Soviet Studies Lecture Series, Central
Connecticut State University, March, 1988
“Sergei Prokofiev and Konstantin Balmont,” Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and
Department of Music, UCLA, November, 1987.
“Sergei Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel,” Los Angeles Music Center Opera “Overtures” lecture series,
September, 1987.
“The Politics of Music in Soviet Russia: Recent Developments,” Department of Slavic
Languages and Literatures and Russian Area Studies Program, Princeton University
(Princeton, NJ), March 1986. (Also given for Yale-Hopkins Summer School Russian
Studies Seminar for Teachers at Yale University, July 1986.)
“Prokofiev and Eisenstein,” Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American
Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (Princeton, NJ), March 1986.
Also given at Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Rutgers
University, New Brunswick, NJ, March 1983.)
“Prokofiev and Diaghilev,” Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union, Columbia
University (New York, NY), February 1985. (Also given for Seminar on Slavic History and
Culture at Columbia University, November, 1986.)
“Recent Developments in Soviet Culture,” Department of German and Russian, University
of Vermont (Burlington, Vt.), February 1985.
On Writing a Biography of Sergei Prokofiev,” Seminar on Biography, The New York Institute
for the Humanities at New York University (New York, NY), January 1985 and May 1987.
“Music for the Masses? Recent Developments in Soviet Music,” Russian Program,
University of Oregon (Eugene, OR); Symposium on Contemporary Soviet Culture, April 1984.
“Sergei Prokofiev and the Politics of Soviet Music,” Russian Program, University of Oregon
(Eugene, OR Symposium on Contemporary Soviet Culture, April 1984. (Also given at
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Washington, Seattle, WA,
April 1984; SUNY College at Oswego, April 1986; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada, October 1986; Texas A & M University, November 12, 1990; Barnard College,
February 1992.)
“Unofficial and Official in Soviet Music: The Case of Alfred Shnittke,” Western Slavic
Association Conference (Stanford, CA), March 1984.
“The Politics of Music in Soviet Russia.” Department of German and Russian and Department of
Music, Williams College, November 1983.
“Prokofiev and Russian Literature,” Norwich University Russian Summer School (Northfield, Vt.),
July 1983.
“Prokofiev and Tolstoy: The Libretto to War and Peace,” Annual Meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (Asilomar, CA), September 1981.
“Gozzi, Meyerhold and Prokofiev: The commedia dell’arte tradition and Love for Three
Oranges, Soviet Studies Colloquium, Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), April 1981.
“An Encounter with Iosif Brodsky,” Northern California Meeting of AATSEEL (Berkeley, CA),
March 1976
“Here and Now,” NPR, interview with Robin Young, “Russians in American Film and
TV,” Aired March 13, 2017
“30 Pieces: Tchaikovsky’s ‘Manfred’ Symphony,” WQXR, New York, January 29, 2015
Posted on WQXR website as contribution to ongoing series
Interviewed on Sirius Radio on Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Metropolitan Opera,
New York, NY, Nov.10, 2014
Hour-long interview on the state of American-Russian relations,
Joy Cardin Show, Wisconsin Public Radio, August 8, 2013
Interviewed on Sirius Radio on The Makropoulos Case, Metropolitan Opera,
New York, April 30, 2012
Interviewed for feature on Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” WBGH radio,
Feb.20, 2012
Featured guest on WNYC Sara Fishko culture program on 75th anniversary of
“Peter and the Wolf,” also posted on NPR website, May 2, 2011
Featured intermission guest on Sirius Metropolitan Opera Live Radio Broadcast,
The Queen of Spades, November 24, 2008; Eugene Onegin, January 30, 2009;
Hamlet, March 24, 2010
Featured guest on “The World,” NPR (Russians in Hollywood), April 2, 2008
Featured intermission guest on Sirius Metropolitan Opera Live Radio Broadcast,
(interviewed on The Gambler), March 27, 2008, rebroadcast on Met International
Radio Broadcast April 12, 2008
Featured intermission guest on Sirius Metropolitan Opera Live Radio Broadcast,
(interviewed on War and Peace), Dec.19, 2007
Featured guest on “The Front Porch,” New Hampshire Public Radio,
August 24, 2007 (Russians in Hollywood)
Featured guest on “On the Media,” NPR, July 26, 2007 (Russians in Hollywood)
Featured guest on “The Front Porch,” New Hampshire Public Radio (on the history
of Yale Russian Chorus), April 26, 2007
Featured intermission guest on Sirius Metropolitan Opera Live Radio Broadcast,
(interviewed on Jenufa), Jan.29. 2007
Featured guest on “The Exchange,” New Hampshire Public Radio: April 22, 2005,
Discussion of Rigoletto and Opera ; September 27, 2005, Dmitri Shostakovich;
April 27, 2006, Discussion of Madama Butterfly
Feature (text and narration) for Metropolitan Opera International Radio Broadcast website
on Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa, March 2006
Feature (text and narration) for Metropolitan Opera International Radio Broadcast website
on Janacek’s Katya Kabanova, Dec.2004
Interviewed on history of Soviet-American cultural exchange for “Studio 360” on National
Public Radio, aired April 2004
Interviewed on the music and career of Sergei Prokofiev by Dutch Television for
Broadcast in The Netherlands, Sept.2003
Interviewed on the career of Dmitri Tiomkin, Radio Liberty, for broadcast in Russia,
Dec.2002
Regular contributor to NPR “Performance Today”:
Russian Music and Revolution (3/10/99), Prokofiev and His Seventh Symphony (10/16/98); An Appreciation of Alfred Schnittke (8/5/98); interview about publication of Selected Letters of Sergei Prokofiev (6/4/98); features on Rachmaninoff (3/19/98),Yuri Temirkanov (10/30/97), Music of Azerbaidzhan (10/22/97), Prokofiev’s letters to Vernon Duke (9/18/97), Tikhon Khrennikov (7/17/97), “Why Isn’t There Opera in Boston?” (6/11/97), Prokofiev letters to Koussevitsky(1/29/97); Shostakovich 90th birthday (9/25/96); Bernard Herrmann(9/16/96); Musical Life in Los Angeles (3/15/96); Makropulos Case (1/12/96); Sochi Musical Exhibition (11/27/95); St.Petersburg and Moscow musical life (9/27/95); Musical Life in Germany (9/12/95); Interviewed on Alexander Nevsky and Sol Hurok
Regular contributor to Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network:
Intermission feature on Tchaikovsky/Musorgsky (1/31/04), Janacek’s Heroines (01/25/03), Preview on Jenufa (11/30/02), Intermission feature on the heroines of Eugene Onegin and War and Peace (2/9/02), Preview on War and Peace (12/01/01), Intermission feature on The Gambler (3/24/01); Preview on The Gambler (12/02/00), intermission feature on Sol Hurok (1/27/2000), Khovanshchina (3/13/99), preview on Khovanshchina, Queen of Spades, Kat’a Kabanova (11/28/98); intermission feature on Boris Godunov and panelist on Opera Quiz (1/3/98), panelist on Opera Quiz (Fedora 4/26/97), preview on Eugene Onegin (12/7/96); intermission feature on A Midsummer Night’s Dream (12/21/96),intermission feature on The Makropulos Case (1/20/96); preview on The Queen of Spades (12/2/95); preview on Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (12/94)
Featured guest on “A Note to You” (WGBH, Boston, MA), “Russian Film Music,”
aired May 24, 1998; “Sergei Prokofiev, aired May 14, 2000
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio “Critic’s Choice”: featured as guest 6/95 (“Russian Music Before and After Communism”); 3/27/96 (“The Russian Sound”)
Advisor to Selection Panel for American Documentary Showcase (Program of American documentary films for USSR), sponsored by Citizen Exchange Council, October, 1989; also accompanied Showcase Tour in USSR May-June, 1990 as observer,interpreter, commentator
Interpreter-escort for William Snyder, Executive Director of SUNY/New York Network in negotiations with Soviet State Television (Gosteleradio), May-June 1989, Moscow.
Writer, producer and narrator for “Music of the Soviet Union” series (13 two-hour programs) for Oregon Public Broadcasting Radio, Portland, OR. April-June, 1987.
Musical and historical consultant (Continuity) for nationally televised PBS broadcast of Chicago Lyric Opera production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Produced by Channel 13 (WNET), New York, September, 1985.
Interviewed on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio, National Public Radio, CBS-TV News Nightwatch, Soviet and Russian television and radio, local television and radio in Albany, NY
- Contributor to The New York Times (Arts & Leisure, Book Review 1980-2002)
- Articles and Reviews published in The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Boston Globe, Musical America, HiFidelity, The Christian Science Monitor, Symphony Magazine, The Nation, Opera News, Ballet News, Dance Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Review of Books, Stagebill, Playbill, Performing Arts Magazine, American Theatre, America Illustrated, LA Weekly, Connoisseur, New York Post, Albany Times-Union, Seattle Weekly, Travel Holiday, Knickerbocker News (Albany, NY) freelance arts critic 1980-82, Daily Californian (Berkeley, CA) staff arts critic 1974-78 and editor of weekly arts/cultural supplement 1978
- Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT—Yale/New Haven correspondent, 1971-72
- Bristol Press, Bristol, CT—general assignment reporter, summer 1971
- Manuscript evaluation, Slavic and East European Journal, “Ballets of Shostakovich,” May 2021
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion to rank of Associate Professor with tenure, United States Military Academy, 3/20
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion to rank of full professor, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, Syracuse University, 9/18
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion and tenure, Department of Theatre, Northwestern University, 10/16
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion and tenure, Division of Music, Meadows School for the Arts, Southern Methodist University, 8/16
- Manuscript evaluation, Journal of the American Musicological Society, January 2015
- Language and cultural coach, Cantata Singers (Boston, MA), Rachmaninoff “Vespers” Nov.2014-Jan.2015
- Manuscript evaluation, Northwestern U Press, Dec.2014
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion and tenure, Dept. of History, University of New Haven, 9/14
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion and tenure, Dept.of Music, Michigan State U., 9/13
- Manuscript evaluation for Lehigh U. Press, 4/13, 10/19
- External evaluator for candidate for appointment as Associate Professor with tenure, Dept.of Slavic Languages and Literatures, U. of Kansas, 2/13
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion and tenure, Dept. of Slavic Languages, Barnard College, 6/10 and 11/12
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion to rank of Full Professor, Dept.of Modern and Classical Languages, Kent State U., 9/09
- Artistic Consultant, “Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev,” Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, NY, NY, 2008-2009
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion to rank of Full Professor, Temple University, Sept 2007
- External evaluator for candidate for promotion to rank of Readership, School of Modern Languages and Culture, University of Durham (UK), January 2005
- Organizer, “Celebration of Hungarian Cinema” symposium, Nov.3-4, 2004, Northeastern University
- Teachers as Scholars Program, “Vienna, Prague, Budapest 1867-1918” Seminar, Oct.-Nov.2004
- Evaluator, Killam Research Fellowship Program, Canada Council for the Arts, 2005 competition (Sept.2004)
- Co-organizer, AATSEEL New England Annual Conference, “New Approaches to 19th Century Russian Literature and Culture,” Yale University, April 3, 2004
- Teachers as Scholars Program, “Rethinking the Russian Revolution” Seminar, Nov.-Dec. 2003
- Outside evaluator for candidate for continuing appointment and promotion to Associate Professor, Dept.of Slavic and Germanic Languages and Literatures, University of Colorado, Boulder, 9/03
- Outside evaluator for candidate for continuing appointment and promotion to Associate Professor, Dept.of Music, Vassar College, 02/03
- Consultant Editor, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture, Routledge Publishers, 2003-6 (published 2006)
- Resident scholar and lecturer, “Russian Festival,” San Francisco Symphony, June 13-30, 2002 (San Francisco, CA)
- Organizer and moderator, War and Peace Symposium, Metropolitan Opera Guild, Feb.13, 2002
- Scholar-in-Residence, Colorado Symphony Orchestra “Spirit of Russia” Festival, January 3-6, 2002
- Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Teachers as Scholars Program, “The Russian Revolution: Fact and Fiction,” June 25-27, 2001; Nov-Dec.2001
- Outside evaluator for candidate for reappointment to Senior Lecturer, Music and Theater Arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3/01)
- Manuscript evaluation for Northeastern University Press (1999–), State University of New York Press (2002), Northwestern U Press, U. Press of New England, Indiana University Press
- Outside evaluator for candidate for appointment to Associate Professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature, U.of California, Irvine (5/00)
- Outside evaluator for candidate for continuing appointment and promotion to Associate Professor, Dept.of Foreign Languages, University of Memphis (9/99)
- Consultant to Lincoln Center, Inc., for special events with Emerson Quartet complete cycle of Shostakovich String Quartets, Feb-March 2000
- Artistic consultant for Martha Clarke’s theater/dance piece Vers la flamme, produced at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and New Visions (NY,NY) by Lincoln Center, Inc., 1999
- Editorial Board, Slavic and East European Journal, (1999-2007)
- Manuscript evaluation for Russian Review, Musical Quarterly (1998)
- Outside evaluator for candidate for promotion to Full Professor rank, Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1998
- Task Force on Audio Materials, Council on Library and Information Resources, Washington, D.C., 1998
- New York Philharmonic: Consultant for special events (lectures and symposium) surrounding performance of Ivan the Terrible (6/95) at Lincoln Center
- Consultant to Metropolitan Opera Guild on Russian opera for Stories of the Great Operas, Vol.II (1996)
- Consultant-reader to St.Martin’s Press for manuscript on Boris Pasternak (5/95)
- Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (NY,NY); Consultant for events (lectures, concerts, poetry readings, films) presented with the performance of complete cycle of string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich by Borodin Quartet, November 1994
- Selection Committee, Special Projects in the Study of Eurasia, International Research and Exchanges Board, 1993-95
- Trustee, Citizen Exchange Council, 1988-94
- Consultant to Canadian National Broadcasting for radio series on Sergei Prokofiev (1991) and Dmitri Shostakovich (1994)
- Co-Artistic Director, “Salute to Shostakovich” Festival, with St. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan String Quartet, Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Maxim Shostakovich and Yevgeny Yevtushenko (concerts, lectures and films), Troy, NY, January 1992
- Official Guest of Moscow Autumn New Music Festival, Moscow, Russia, November, 1991 and November, 1992
- Organizer, Escort and Interpreter for “Writers Tour” for Citizen Exchange Council (Leningrad, Odessa, Moscow), November 1-12, 1991
- Co-Director, Glasnost and New Music Festival, University at Albany, February 20-22, 1991; concerts and lectures with visiting Soviet composers
- Application Reader, Woodrow Wilson Center, 1990; 1992
- Reader for promotion file (to full professor), Arizona State University, 1990
- Associate Member, Biography Seminar, New York University, 1984-1990
- Manuscript evaluation, Indiana University Press (1989, 1999)
- Consultant, Participant and Interpreter for Music Critics Association Annual Meeting with visiting Soviet music critics, August, 1989 (Aspen, Colo)
- Co-Director and Co-Organizer, “Soviet Musical Life: A Workshop Tour” for Citizen Exchange Council, May 1989. (Leningrad, Moscow, Tbilisi)
- Guest lecturer on twentieth century Soviet musical life, NEH Institute in Russian Language and Culture, Bryn Mawr College, June-July 1989
- Co-Director and Co-Organizer, “Soviet Theatre Today” Tour for Citizen Exchange Council and California Theatre Council, April 1988. (Leningrad, Moscow)
- Interpreter-Escort for the Taneyev String Quartet (from Leningrad, USSR) for its American tour (sponsored by the Manhattan String Quartet), July-August 1987.
- Translation work for the New York City Ballet’s new production of Sleeping Beauty. 5/87
- Organizer and producer, “Prokofiev Festival” at SUNY-Albany, April, 1987.
- Director and organizer, “Musical Life in the Soviet Union” tour for Citizen Exchange Council, December-January 1985-86 (Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi, Tallinn)
- Offenberg Research and Travel Fund Grant, Dept. of History, Northeastern U, 2016-17 ($1000)
- Offenberg Research and Travel Fund Grant, Dept of History, Northeastern U, 2015-16 ($1500)
- Offenberg Research and Travel Fund Grant, Dept of History, Northeastern U, 2013-14
- 2009 Academy Film Scholar, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles, ($25,000) for biography of Lewis Milestone
- Matthews Distinguished University Professor (initial term 2004-2006), Northeastern University
- Listed in Who’s Who in America, 58th edition, 2003
- Northeastern University Faculty Development Grant for research in Czech Republic, 2002 ($1000)
- Whiting Foundation Fellowship ($5000) for research in Czech Republic, 2002
- Vice-President, American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL), 2001-2003
- Faculty Development Grant for travel to Russia, Northeastern University, 6/2000 ($2500)
- Associate Fellow, Davis Center for Russian Studies, Harvard University, 1998-99
- Faculty Research Awards Program Fellowship, University at Albany/SUNY, 1995-96 ($3000)
- Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington,D.C.); Short-Term Research Grant for June, 1993 ($2500)
- Faculty Research Awards Program Fellowship, University at Albany/SUNY, summer 1993 ($1000)
- United University Professionals Travel Grant ($750), summer 1993
- Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Senior Fellowship for USSR, 1991-92 ($10,322)
- IREX-Soviet Academy of Sciences Fellowship for three months research in USSR for 1991-92 ($4533)
- Soros Foundation Fellowship ($2250) and SUNY-Albany Committee on Journals and Conferences Grant ($2000) for Glasnost and New Music Festival at SUNY-Albany, February 1991
- National Endowment for the Humanities Grant ($96,408; with Prof.Joel Sachs); awarded 1988 (Declined)
- Albany Author of the Year for 1994, Albany Public Library
- Theodore C. Wenzl Lecturer, Bethlehem (NY) Public Library, 1994
- 1987 Book Prize, Center for the Arts and Humanities at SUNY-Albany (for Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography)
- SUNY-Moscow State University Faculty Exchange Program, Spring 1988
- Research Foundation of the State University of New York Fellowship ($2000), Summer 1986
- Visiting Scholar, W. Averell Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union at Columbia University, January-September 1985
- American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship ($12,500) January-August 1985
- Research Foundation of the State University of New York Fellowship and Grant-in-aid ($3300), Summer 1982
- IREX Graduate Student/Young Faculty grant for research in Moscow, 1979-1980
- Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, Oct 1978-May 1979 (Paris and London)
- NDFL Fellowship in Czech, University of California, Berkeley, 1974-75; in Russian, 1973-74
- Travel grants for summer language study at Charles University, Prague, 1974 and 1975 University of California, Berkeley
- Phi Beta Kappa (Yale, 1972) B.A. Magna cum laude (Yale)
- Summer Institute of Russian Culture, Moscow Academy of Russian Culture, Moscow, Russia, Aug.1-14, 2004
- Letni skola slovanskych studii, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, 1974, 1975, 2003
- Czech Cinema and Culture, Prague Summer Seminars, University of New Orleans and Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, July 1-15, 2001
- Workshop on Memoir, Provincetown (MA) Fine Arts Work Center, 10/20-10/21/2000
- Summer Literary Seminars, Herzen Institute, St.Petersburg, Russia, 6/16-7/1/2000
- Workshop on non-fiction writing, Provincetown (MA) Fine Arts Work Center, 8/99
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
- Interim Chair, Dept.of History, 2013-14
- Search Committee, Chinese History position, Dept.of History, 2012
- Chair, Search Committee, Early Modern Atlantic World position, Dept.of History, 2011-12
- University Art Gallery Advisory Committee, 2010-11
- Tenure and Promotion Committee, College of Arts and Sciences, 2008-2010
- Coordinator of Graduate Programs, Dept.of History, 2008-2009 (3 semesters); fall 2015
- Search Committee for English Dept.Chair, 2007-8
- Graduate Committee, Dept.of History, 2006-11
- University Standing Appeals Committee on Tenure/Promotion, 2005-6
- University ad hoc Committee on Library Policies and Operations, 2005-6, 2008-2009
- University Press of New England, Northeastern U. Advisory Committee, 2004-2007
- Northeastern University Press Editorial Board, 2003-04
- Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of History, 2003-2004
- Lecture on “The Image of Russia in American Culture” for Uzbek exchange students from World Languages Institute, July 3, 2003
- Search Committee for Director of Northeastern University Press, 2003
- Organizer and commentator, Noontime Concert, “Russian Music for Viola,” February 22, 2001
- Head Advisor, International Affairs Program, 2000-01
- Summer Advising, International Affairs Program, 2000
- Organizer of visit by film editor Kate Amend and screening of Oscar-winning documentary The Long Way Home sponsored by Dept.of Modern Languages, Program in Cinema Studies, Program in Jewish Studies, April 1999
- Promotion to Full Professor Committee, School of Journalism, 2000
- Faculty Development Committee of Faculty Senate, 1998-99
- Center for the Arts Director Selection Committee, 1998
- Centennial Planning Committee for College of Arts & Sciences, 1996-97
- Organizer of visit by film director Johanna Demetrakas and screening of her films, Sponsored by Dept.of Modern Languages and Program in Cinema Studies, Feb.1997
- Full Professor Committee, 1996-98
- College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professorship Selection Committee, 1996-99
- Advisory Board, International Affairs Major, 1996-2000
- Library Advisory Committee, 1997-99, 2002-2003
- Acting Director, Program in Cinema Studies, 1998-99
- Advisory Board, Program in Cinema Studies, 1998-
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
- Faculty Research Awards Program Grants Committee (University-wide competition), fall 1995
- Search Committee, Russian history position, spring 1994
- Organizer and moderator of “The Arts in the Land of Tolstoy” forum with members of visiting delegation from Tula, Russia, October 13, 1992
- Organizer of University Forum “Is Glasnost Dead?,” with two visiting Soviet composers, February 20, 1991
- Panelist on USSR and Eastern Europe for World Week, March 1990
- Co-organizer, “The Changing Faces of Socialism Series II: The Soviet Union” Campus Forum, November, 1989
- Advisory Board, Center for the Humanities, 1989-92
- Elected College representative to University Senate, 1986-87
- Community-University Council, 1986-87
- Committee on Academic Standing, 1985-86
- Resident Director for the SUNY/New Paltz Intensive Language Study Program at Leningrad State University, Summer 1984
- Selection Committee for SUNY Undergraduate Program at Thorez Language Institute in Moscow (1982, 1983, 1984, 1986)
- Selection Committee for SUNY Faculty (1989, 1990) and Graduate Programs (1989) at Moscow State University
- Resident Advisor for the SUNY Undergraduate Program at Thorez Language Institute in Moscow, fall 1982
- “SUNY Academic Exchange Programs with the USSR.” Panel on Soviet-American Exchanges, Annual Meeting of AATSEEL, December 1983.
- Departmental Representative to College Council, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, 1983 Editorial Advisory Board, University News, 1982-83, 1983-84
- Personnel Committee, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, 1981-82
Departmental
- Chair, 1992-95
- Ph.D. Development Committee, Chair, 1992-95
- Curriculum Revision Committee, Chair, 1992-95
- Acting Chair, 1988-89
- Graduate Advisor, 1988-89
- Undergraduate Advisor and CUE Representative, 1980-87
- High School Advanced Placement Program Committee, 1985-86
- Graduate student recruiting at SUNY-Oswego and Rutgers U., 1985-86
- Translation Certificate Program Curriculum Committee, 1983-84
- Fortnightly Colloquium Committee, Chairman, 1981-82
- Russian Club, Advisor, 1980-83; Advisor, Dobro Slovo, 1980-1984
Community
- Board of Directors, Albany-Tula Alliance, 1993-94
- Board of Directors, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, 1993-95
- “Russia Unraveling,” Talk for Capital District Chapter of Zonta, International, Albany, NY, October 14, 1992 Panelist (“Changes in Eastern Europe: Implications for the Classroom”) for New York State Council for the Social Studies
- Annual Convention, Albany, NY, March 22, 1991
- “Nationalities, Culture and Glasnost,” Keynote Speech for Phi Beta Kappa Initiation Banquet, University at Albany, May 7, 1990
- “Balanchine and the New York City Ballet,” SUNY Alumni Seminar, July 1989.
- “Recent Developments in the USSR,” Bristol Yale Club (Bristol, CT), June 1989.
- “The Soviet Union Under Glasnost: One American’s View,” United Church of Christ (Bristol, CT), March 1989.
- “The Politics of Soviet Culture.” Talk for District In-Service Program, Bethlehem Central High School (Delmar, NY), November, 1986.
- “Recent Developments in Western European Culture.” Talk given at District In-Service Program, Bethlehem Central High School (Delmar, NY), November, 1985.
- “The Politics of Culture in the USSR.” Talk for Upper Hudson Valley Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (Albany, NY), February 1984.
- “The Soviet Peace Movement: A Historical Perspective.” United Church of Christ (Bristol, CT), November 1983.
- “Stravinsky and Prokofiev.” Talk for “Overtures” series for Capital District Humanities Program at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, July 29, 1982.
- “Tuesday Night Opera.” Weekly presentation on opera for WMHT-FM (Schenectady, NY), February-April 1982.
- “Eastern European Music.” Talk given at District In-Service Program, Bethlehem Central High School (Delmar, NY), November 12, 1981.