Alex Ross named one of 25 MacArthur "Genius" fellows

The MacArthur Fellowships were announced this week, and The New Yorker's long-time music critic, Alex Ross, was on the list.

Ross is also the author of the twentieth-century music history study The Rest is Noise, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award, amongst other accolades. He's one of two writers in this year's fellowship. MacFound.org extends the following description of his merits: Alex Ross offers "both highly specialized and casual readers new ways of thinking about the music of the past and its place in our future."

The "Genius Award"--2008 winners include scientists, artists, doctors, an architectural preservationist and an urban farmer--consists of a no-strings $500,000 grant. The qualifications are extraordinary creativity and potential for future achievement, but the foundation doesn't require anything of recipients.

When Mediabistro asked Ross how the fellowship will change his plans for the future, he said, "When I get around to writing my next big book, this award will allow me to take some time off here and there, travel to do research, and otherwise explore the subject in depth."

He added that he has no plans to leave his position at The New Yorker: "They will have to carry me out on a stretcher or in a straitjacket, whichever comes first."

Eight artists made the 2008 Genius Award list. You can learn more about Jennifer Tipton (a Stage Lighting Designer), Mary Jackson (a Fiber Artist), Walter Kitundu (an Instrument Maker), and others here.

Related links:
The MacArthur Fellows Program
TheRestisNoise.com
NewYorker.com

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