Peter Margasak is a music critic, journalist, and artistic director of the annual Frequency Festival in Chicago, an event that grew out of his longstanding work programming the weekly Frequency Series for experimental, improvised, and contemporary classical music.[1][2] Margasak wrote for the Chicago Reader for 25 years.[3]
Peter Margasak | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Music journalist, programmer |
| Website | petermargasak |
Career
editMargasak writes about disparate musical times and communities within the broad field of late-20th and 21st-century music. His contributions to The New York Times include a piece about Algerian "pop rai" artist Khaled Brahim[4] and another on the avant-garde artists of the Theatre of Eternal Music and their battles for proprietorship of drone music;[5] a Pitchfork feature on the year 1979 in Chicago touches on both power pop and the racial dimensions of anti-disco sentiment during "the Rise of House Music";[6] he has written about trip hop for Rolling Stone[7] and reviewed new work by jazz saxophonist Matana Roberts for NPR's All Things Considered.[8] Margasak is a regular contributor to DownBeat,[9] Chamber Music America,[10] and The Quietus,[11] and he is the lead contemporary classical music reviewer for Bandcamp Daily.[12] Among many other publications, he frequently wrote for the Chicago Tribune in the 1990s.[13]
Margasak is best known for his work writing for the Chicago Reader from 1993 to 2018.[3][10] Before he started working for the Chicago Reader, Margasak published the zine Butt Rag, which he started as a sophomore in college.[14] A total of nine issues of Butt Rag were published, and one of them attracted the attention of three Chicago Reader employees, including the then-editor-in-chief Michael Lenehan. After they saw Butt Rag, they decided to offer Margasak a job at the Reader, in the hopes of bringing some of the zine's snarky writing to the Reader's pages.[3][15]
In 2017, Dare Mighty Things declared Margasak one of "37 Influential Media People Shaping The Future Of Chicago".[16]
In September 2018, Margasak announced he would be leaving the Chicago Reader to attend the American Academy in Rome as part of its Visiting Artists & Scholars Program.[3]
Frequency Series and Festival
editIn 2013, Margasak founded and began curating the Frequency Series, a weekly series dedicated to showcasing new musicians at the Chicago venue Constellation.[17] He said his goal in starting the series was "to connect the dots between the strong experimental, improvised and contemporary classical scenes in Chicago".[17] Frequency quickly gained traction, and was included in Chicago magazine's "Best of 2014".[18]
In 2016, he launched The Frequency Festival, a week-long version of the series featuring new musicians from the Chicago area; the festival comprises daily performances, culminating with a two-show day on Sunday.[19] His work grew into an acclaimed event[20] with international draw, leading to partnerships and co-presentations with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and the Renaissance Society,[21] though it maintains its "home base" at Constellation.[22]
Margasak relocated to Germany after his time in Rome, but he continued his work programming both the series and festival.[2]
References
edit- ^ Cohen, Aaron (21 February 2020). "The beauty of new music is the many forms it takes — and that you can hear it all at Chicago's Frequency Festival". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ a b Meyer, Bill (20 November 2019). "The 2020 Frequency Festival announces a lineup of world-class experimental music". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d Margasak, Peter (2018-09-05). "Music critic Peter Margasak says farewell and thanks to the Reader and to Chicago". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ Margasak, Peter (9 July 2000). "'King of Rai' Returns To His Roots". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Margasak, Peter (13 August 2000). "Amid the Drone, a Feud Over Who Composed It". The New York Times.
- ^ Margasak, Peter (5 May 2016). "Chicago's Disco Demoliton, Cheap Trick, and the Rise of House Music". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "Mo' Wax Captures the Trip-Hop Vibe". Rolling Stone. 11 July 1996. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Margasak, Peter (27 July 2011). "Matana Roberts: An Ancestral History In Music". NPR. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "Peter Margasak". DownBeat. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Music Writing". PeterMargasak.com. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "Peter Margasak: Articles". The Quietus. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "Peter Margasak: Contributor". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "Chicago Tribune". PeterMargasak.com. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Wyman, Bill (1993-04-22). "Fanzine Mania". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ McSweeney, Ellen (2013-05-09). "Music Writers on Writing: Peter Margasak". NewMusicBox. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ "37 Influential Media People Shaping The Future Of Chicago". Dare Mighty Things. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ a b Clarke, Mia (2013-04-16). "Peter Margasak talks Frequency". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ "Frequency". Chicago Magazine. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Meyer, Graham (2016-02-22). "The Frequency Festival Brings the New-Music Festival Back to Chicago". Chicago. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ Allen, David (1 March 2016). "Review: Frequency Festival in Chicago Offers the Complicated and Compelling". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ "On a New Music Frequency". Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Warwick, Kevin (23 February 2016). "The Frequency Festival kicks off six days of top-shelf contemporary classical tonight at the MCA". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 7 September 2021.