Evan Dickerson

Born London, 1972.

Music has always been a passion - the first record Evan bought (age 7) was of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, and the first Prom he attended (age 10) featured the music of Stockhausen. Years later, tastes have widened and appreciation of genuine musicianship has deepened (hopefully…), though every performance always carries the possibility of revealing a new point of view.

At university he read art history (specialist areas: Italian renaissance and modern German art), before proceeding to complete a Masters in Music Criticism under the late Michael Oliver (of BBC Radio 3 and The Gramophone). Around this time Evan studied singing (bass-baritone voice) and became enthralled by the possibility of conducting - though ultimately both were left for others to follow professionally.

Evan travels widely in the pursuit of art and music; his earlier career as a lecturer in art history partially enabled this through his lecturing on European 'grand tours' each summer. Of late, Romania has been a frequent destination. His cultural guide to Bucharest and other major Romanian cities remains in fragmentary form, though he is convinced there is a growing, if niche, market for such a publication to become available.

Current musical interests include: piano, violin and vocal music of most schools, but particularly that of Eastern Europe, with a special emphasis on the music and musicians of Romania. Opera remains an abiding passion, having caught the bug early on. The past few years have seen trips to Berlin and Cagliari to attend productions of Enescu's opera Oedipe, for example. Whilst his sense of musical adventure remains wide, at the heart of it lies devotion to the core repertoire.

He spends much time contemplating the role of critics and function of criticism. In essence he thinks that one should criticise what one legitimately can, and leave the rest alone. Any piece of well written criticism should not only analyse and justify the reasons for the views it puts across, but simultaneously inform (and even entertain) the reader. It is a harder job to do well than it may seem from the outside, but yes it can also be good fun!