Best of 2000: Best Concert Program Annotator

Eric Bromberger

Concertgoers ordinarily pay little attention to the quality of program annotations -- except when they find them irritating. One way these contributions to the audience's musical experience can go bad is by pedantically expatiating on technical issues beyond the average music-lover's understanding. Another way is by analyzing the structure of each work (and each movement) in such extreme detail that no one can remember anything while the music is actually being performed. Still another way is by focusing exclusively on sentimental details of the composer's life or by gushing about how wonderful the piece is without indicating why. Bromberger -- whose program notes have aided San Diego audiences for many years (he writes for the La Jolla Chamber Music Society and for Mainly Mozart) -- consistently avoids all these pitfalls. His notes are intelligent without being overwhelming. They balance background information and analysis of the work's form and effect. He educates with wit, grace, and a sensitive human touch, never failing to enlighten -- which is why his writing is equally in demand in Washington, Santa Fe, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. We're lucky to have him here.