norman lebrecht
July 16, 2025
From the Hollywood Reporter:
According to a memo to culture desk staff Tuesday from Times culture editor Sia Michel, which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the four critics: TV critic Margaret Lyons, pop music critic Jon Pareles, theater critic Jesse Green and classical music critic Zach Woolfe, will be “taking on new roles” with the venerable news outlet.
This has been coming. The Times has shrunk its reviews over the past two years, leaving Woolfe and Pareles little space for routine criticism. The less they got to review, the more their profiles shrank, making it easier for the confused newspaper to remove them. Woolfe was both knowledgeable and readable, if a little too easily swayed by a couple of PRs. He’s a loss to the shrinking critical pool.
As far as coverage of classical music is concerned, that’s pretty much curtains for the Times as a newspaper of record.
UPDATE: Michel’s memo continues:
‘We are in the midst of an extraordinary moment in American culture. New generations of artists and audiences are bypassing traditional institutions, smartphones have Balkanized fandoms even as they have made culture more widely accessible than ever, and arts institutions are facing challenges and looking for new opportunities…
‘Our readers are hungry for trusted guides to help them make sense of this complicated landscape, not only through traditional reviews but also with essays, new story forms, videos and experimentation with other platforms. Our mission is to be those guides. As we do so, I am making some changes in assignments in the department.’
Michel (pictured below) joined the paper in 2007 as pop music editor, rising to her present post in 2023. She is 58 years old.
