Donald Richard Vroon (born 1942) is an American music critic, chief editor and co-owner of ''
American Record Guide
The ''American Record Guide'' (''ARG'') is a classical music magazine. It has reviewed classical music recordings since 1935.
History and profile
The magazine was founded by Peter Hugh Reed in May 1935 as the ''American Music Lover''. It chang ...
'',
a bi-monthly magazine containing reviews of classical music events, compact discs, DVDs, and books related to classical music as well as a section on classical musicians and ensembles.
Work in radio
He also worked in radio, at
WNYC
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...
in 1976 (programming) and as a classical music host at
WNED-FM
WNED-FM (94.5 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Buffalo, New York. WNED-FM offers a classical music radio format. It is owned by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association (formerly the Western New York Educational TV ...
(1977 to 1985) and overnight at
WGUC
WGUC (90.9 MHz) is a public FM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio and has a classical music format. WGUC broadcasts using HD Radio technology and plays jazz on WGUC-HD2 and adult album alternative on WGUC ...
(from 1985 to 1987).
Work in print media
Vroon began writing for the ''
American Record Guide
The ''American Record Guide'' (''ARG'') is a classical music magazine. It has reviewed classical music recordings since 1935.
History and profile
The magazine was founded by Peter Hugh Reed in May 1935 as the ''American Music Lover''. It chang ...
'' in 1983. He became its chief editor and co-owner with his husband, Plein Air artist Ray Hassard, in 1987, moving its headquarters to
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
.
In July 2014 Rowman & Littlefield published a book entitled ''Classical Music in a Changing Culture: Essays from the American Record Guide'', a collection of essays from his "Critical Convictions" column in the magazine. As Vroon argues, since all criticism is cultural criticism, music criticism in the broadest sense—from its composition to its distribution to its reception—is a window onto broader culture issues.
Perspectives
Vroon has expressed strong—and, occasionally, unusual—viewpoints, which include distastes for historical performance practice and much contemporary music. He has lauded the expressive power of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century masterworks and criticized the decline of modern culture (reflected, among many other things, by the increasing pervasiveness of mass media). These viewpoints and others he shares in his reviews and in an editorial column, "Critical Convictions," in the magazine, a selection of which was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2014 (see above). The magazine publishes very little in the way of reader response to these editorials.
In "Elitism," Vroon espouses snobbish tropes, such as the idea that "Enlightened minds
uch as lovers of classical musicdon't read comic books and don't find fulfillment in popular music!"
'Classical Music in a Changing Culture'' (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), p. 4He stereotypes women as interested in shopping and little more, and concludes by valuing elitism because "only an elite offers any hope."
bid., p. 6
Family & early years
Vroon is the son of
Peter R. Vroon, former
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
member of the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
According to biographical sources, Vroon grew up in New York and listened only to classical music. He developed an interest in theology, which led him to earn a
Master of Theology
Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a sta ...
degree (ThM) degree from
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
in 1968. He worked as a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
minister from 1964 to 1972 and as a part-time instructor of Christian ethics at the
University of Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...
from 1982 to 1985.
References
General references
* ''Who's Who in Entertainment, Second edition, 1992–1993,''
Marquis Who's Who
Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...
,
Wilmette, IL (1992)
* ''Who's Who in Entertainment, Third edition, 1998–1999'',
Marquis Who's Who
Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...
,
New Providence, NJ (1997)
Inline citations
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vroon, Donald
American musicologists
Living people
1942 births
American LGBT writers
Place of birth missing (living people)
People from New York (state)
Princeton Theological Seminary alumni
University at Buffalo faculty