| Ivan Hewett | |
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Ivan Hewett is a British music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Since 2009 he has been the chief music critic for British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. Hewett has a particular interest in contemporary classical music, which was the topic of his 2003 book Music: Healing the Rift. He is also active as a radio and television presenter.
Ivan Hewett studied music at the University of Oxford, receiving a Master of Arts.[1] He then attended the Royal College of Music to study music composition, and wrote music for television commercials for a year.[2] Throughout the 1980s and in to the 1990s, Hewett unsuccessfully attempted to start a music festival, did research for the Man and Music program, on Granada TV, and assisted with Jonathan Miller's TV performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion.[2] He has contributed to music publications such as The Musical Times and Prospect since the 1980s.[2] At various times, Hewett has also worked as a lecturer, broadcaster and composer.[3]
By the 1990s, Hewett began presenting on music for the BBC Radio 3; from 1993 to 2002 he led the weekly program "Music Matters".[2] [3] Since 2009, he has been chief music critic for British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, having succeeded Geoffrey Norris.[1] [3] His interests include the composition, reception and harmony of contemporary classical music.[1] His interests in modern music culminated in a 2003 book entitled Music: Healing the Rift,[1] described as a "very personal view" on the topic.[2] Other publications by Hewett include a chapter for The Proms: A New History (2006) book on The Proms, and The Other Classical Musics: Fifteen Great Traditions (2015) on art music around the world.[1]
Since the late 1990s, Hewett has been a professor at the Royal College of Music.[2]