EarRelevant turns 3 years old

Mark Gresham | 15 FEB 2020

It’s our birthday! EarRelevant turns three years old today.

Although it existed as an informal, occasional blog for some time before, February 15, 2019, was its official beginning as a full-time publication.

What marked that moment was the publication in the EarRelevant website of my review of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra the night before.

I had been writing for another publication for some years, and this review initially was intended for it. But things had, in my opinion, gone completely awry there. A couple of months before, I had been assigned a new editor whom I felt was not merely inexperienced but inept. The first clue was when I wrote a review about an all-Rachmaninoff concert by the Atlanta Symphony. The initial edits to the first paragraph came back changed to say that Rachmaninoff was performing. I had first to explain that Sergei Rachmaninoff had been “very dead” since 1943. I got it corrected, so there was no revenant pianist in the posted article.


Advertisement
  • SPI13 Atlanta's Finest Organists
  • AD TAO 03 Macbeth
  • EarRelevant Reader MailChimp sign-up link AD

I’d hoped that was a one-time editorial faux pas, but it turned out not to be the case: the editing didn’t get better, and I was spending twice the time that it took under the previous editor to go back and undo the damage in subsequent articles. I brought this to the attention of upper-level editorial on multiple occasions, but to no avail.

In the meantime, I was preparing for the possibility of a worst-case scenario, publishing articles more frequently on the EarRelevant blog.

The breaking point was the review of the February 14 concert by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra that year, led by then associate conductor Stephen Mulligan. I faced multiple ethical choices, but I knew one thing: I could not hand over the review to that editor. Nor, due to that, continue with that publication as a writer.

It was with that crucial decision that EarRelevant turned into a full-time publication.


Advertisement
  • SCH07 Daniel Hope PCO
  • CMSFW 04 Marmen 25-03-15

I had thankfully prepared for as much, including the loss of immediate income. I had decided the publication would not become organized as a non-profit. Through a GoFundMe campaign or with direct contributions, individual supporters came to the fore. Some of our most recognizable Atlanta area presenters and performing groups bought advertising.

The pandemic hit just over a year into publication. Further assistance then came from the Small Business Administration in the forms of a grant and a long-term, low-interest loan.

The number of advertisers began to grow as it became clear that EarRelevant was not going away and was thriving as a classical and post-classical music journal when it was becoming most needed. The public, including national and international readers, became increasingly aware of EarRelevant. Although still a small niche publication by media standards, it has earned respect within the music industry.

There are also some people to thank who have volunteered their time, such as Sara Jane Zinn, who helped encode our THIS WEEK ATLANTA listings for many months. She will always have our appreciation as part of the EarRelevant family.


Advertisement
  • ECMSA 24-25 AD 600x250
  • JCSO 04 From Screen to Stage
  • SPI14 Escher

I want to thank our growing roster of writers, new and old, who have done such splendid work over the last three years with their reviews and other stores. Soon we will recognize them more fully with a page where readers can more easily connect with their work.

Lat but certainly not least, I thank you our readers, both new and those who have followed EarRelevant from the beginning. (Including some of you who have followed my writing career in different publications for over 30 years.)

Where do we go from here? Forward. There is much to do locally, nationally, and even internationally. And in a myriad of ways, we might even help change the nature of “journalism,” which I feel is in a rather tragic state these days. And, of course, remaining true to our mission and focus as we continue to grow, step by step.

Our next years promise to be quite an adventure! ■


Mark Gresham

Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. he began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.


RECENT POSTS