Dropping the Ball for 2012

Happy New Year from Superconductor.

The Times Square ball, with unidentified man in fedora.
Photo from the New York Public Library.

By Paul Pelkonen.

Yes, here it is, the annual Superconductor New Year's post, written in my Brooklyn sidewalk window-seat at 8am as the sun comes up over the east side of Sunset Park and the annual Honeymooners marathon plays in the background.

2011 was a banner year for Superconductor. Almost 500 posts--150 of them live reviews of performances. Our news coverage and news gathering expanded. Relations improved with arts organizations, record labels, and opera companies, both in and outside of New York. That's all well and good.

But the biggest improvement was from you, the reader--who discovered a high-speed version of classical music coverage, decided you liked my writing, and stayed.

Thanks!

For 2012, I resolve to keep bringing you the same, or better level of music coverage, from the concerts of the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra to operas viewed from a high perch in the Family Circle of the Metropolitan Opera. (Look for me on Monday nights--that's when I have my subscription.)

There are more Recordings Reviews and DVD Reviews planned, along with features that you all seem to like: the Short List, the Metropolitan Opera Preview, the Gift Guide, and (provided we don't get hit by an asteroid on December 21) the Year in Reviews. (For the record, I think the Mayan prophecy stuff is a bunch of humbug.)

Humbug, I tell you. Humbug!

This year, I'd like to start doing more interviews and features on the blog page. There is also the possibility of multi-media expansion if I ever figure out the technology. An online radio station? A podcast? The presidency of EMI Classics? (That last one looks doubtful.)

Finally, I also resolve (as I have done each year for the last three years: 

• to make every effort to continue running a daily publication.
• to be visible on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and elsewhere.
• to keep the coverage real, honest, and objective, with the exception of the occasional excursions into comedy writing.
• to continue to make those excursions. Readers seem to like them. 
• to hear, see, and write about as much music as possible.
• to make this the best classical music blog that I can create with two hands.

See you out there.

Paul Pelkonen.

Editor, Superconductor.