On the firing of Paul Horsley, The KC Star classical music and dance critic

It feels a little odd for me to be writing in support of a critic; after all, performers and critics aren’t supposed to care for each other, much less associate. As artistic director of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Paul reviewed my work at least four times a year, and I read, along with everyone else, what he thought of our artistic efforts. In my business, we all disagree on whether reviews significantly influence ticket sales, but we all use every good word ever written about us to promote our organizations, our projects and our individual careers. We crave the imprimatur of the critic almost as much as the applause of the audience.

Paul is a gifted musician with a probing intellect and a deep love for the art forms he covers. I greatly admire the writing style he has developed, which allows him to digest performances and submit cogent reviews before we performers have finished our post-performance festivities or our evening’s patrons have gone to bed. His other, in depth articles, reveal his deep, ever-widening insight into the purpose of art and artists in our society, and his thoughtful approach to educating his readers. I was not always pleased to see in print what he thought of one of our productions, but I rarely had fundamental disagreements with his assessments.

A somewhat anomalous vein (for a critic) I see running through his work and in our on- and off-record conversations is his humanity. Perhaps copious scathing, snide personal attacks would have made his writing more controversially appealing to some; Paul seems to suffer the curse of being a man who actually respects and likes other human beings, and is liked and respected in return.

Those who attend and support the rich, broad arts scene in Kansas City will have to look to sources other than the Star for credible coverage of this important area of their lives, and another local paper will eventually go under for neglecting what should be its primary mission – covering its own town in a professional manner.

This is an epitaph for only the Kansas City Star portion of Paul’s fine career in the arts. I am certain that he, and the other worthy arts writers, will find homes as new, economically viable reportage and commentary vehicles come into being.