Oxford University is facing questions over its handling of repeated disruption of public talks by Dr Michael Foran, associate professor of law and tutorial fellow at Keble College, after trans activists interrupted two events linked to his recent work. thecritic.co.uk/the-screamin...

Proud to have signed this letter in support of Michael Foran, the Oxford academic who had his lectures disrupted by activists. Universities *must* be able to host debates about sensitive topics. johnarmstrongmaths.com/openletters/...

I have seen various bizarre claims today on this site about Michael Foran: (a) he doesn’t have a law degree; (b) he incites violence against trans people; (c) he has no friends. All of these claims are false.

After a week laid up in bed with a stomach bug, I finally made it out for a walk today, and decided to write something about slow walking. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

After a week laid up in bed with a stomach bug, I finally made it out for a walk today, and decided to write something about slow walking. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

My extended tribute to Arnold Whittall for Gramophone. www.gramophone.co.uk/content/feat...

If you want to buy one book to remember Arnold Whittall, make it one of these three.

Here is my tribute to Arnold for Gramophone. www.gramophone.co.uk/content/feat...

My extended tribute to Arnold Whittall for Gramophone. www.gramophone.co.uk/content/feat...

Very sad to announce the death of doyen of British musicology and music analysis Arnold Whittall (1935-2026). He had been ill since the beginning of the year. I’m mourning not only an intellectual giant and valued mentor but also a close friend who we saw for the last time on Saturday.

My recent piano piece Tren: został nam odebrany zbyt wcześnie (2026) can now be downloaded as a PDF by anyone. Hope some others will want to play it! openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/37...

My two-part Café Américain article 'The Art of Judgment' is now available full open-access. It's something of a new departure for me, in the extent to which it attempts to marry the intellectual and the personal. Part 1 here, Part 2 in comment below. openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/37...

Now spinning: in honour of Anne Sofie Von Otter’s 70th birthday, one of her greatest discs. open.spotify.com/album/3IDSSB...

'the author [of a book I reviewed harshly] herself, in a candidacy statement for a leading professional association, referred to “damaging experiences at the hands of longer-established figures” and committed to ensuring “safe environments to share work”.'

[On publishing a harsh review] 'I would be lying if I said I did not realize the author would likely find it devastating—had I been in her position, knowing how it feels to receive harsh reviews, I would likely have resented me for writing it.'

'“Remember the critics don’t know what they are talking about when they give you a *good* review”. If one believes a hostile critic ignorant, blinkered or malicious, consistency demands the same skepticism towards the gushing review by an uninformed enthusiast...'

'Public performance and publication solicit evaluation: ... Yet there is a growing presumption that a review is legitimate only if it is positive—that performing or publishing is courageous, and that courage deserves protection rather than scrutiny.'

'I won’t deny that having a very negative review in a national newspaper is a highly unpleasant experience. [...] [But] I would never wish to claim that those who have given me bad reviews have committed an invalid act.'

'I have written on composers I admired and continue to admire—Michael Finnissy, Pascal Dusapin, Helmut Lachenmann—in terms I would now recognize as over-defensive, at times approaching the hagiographic register this essay criticizes elsewhere.'

'the author [of a book I reviewed harshly] herself, in a candidacy statement for a leading professional association, referred to “damaging experiences at the hands of longer-established figures” and committed to ensuring “safe environments to share work”.'

[On publishing a harsh review] 'I would be lying if I said I did not realize the author would likely find it devastating—had I been in her position, knowing how it feels to receive harsh reviews, I would likely have resented me for writing it.'

'“Remember the critics don’t know what they are talking about when they give you a *good* review”. If one believes a hostile critic ignorant, blinkered or malicious, consistency demands the same skepticism towards the gushing review by an uninformed enthusiast...'

'Public performance and publication solicit evaluation: ... Yet there is a growing presumption that a review is legitimate only if it is positive—that performing or publishing is courageous, and that courage deserves protection rather than scrutiny.'

'I won’t deny that having a very negative review in a national newspaper is a highly unpleasant experience. [...] [But] I would never wish to claim that those who have given me bad reviews have committed an invalid act.'

'I have written on composers I admired and continue to admire—Michael Finnissy, Pascal Dusapin, Helmut Lachenmann—in terms I would now recognize as over-defensive, at times approaching the hagiographic register this essay criticizes elsewhere.'

Opinion: the Sussex verdict wrongly overlooks the Equality Act’s role in determining what universities can be expected to do to protect free speech, writes Maya Forstater www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/ofs-...

Part Two of my article on judgment/evaluation for Café Américain. Personal experiences of receiving bad reviews, writing harsh reviews, delivering killer question, maintaining boundaries with colleagues who are not friends, playing God when judging, etc. cafeamericainmag.com/the-art-of-j...

This is the final version of my new short piano piece Tren: Został nam odebrany zbyt wcześnie (2026), written in memoriam of Jonathan Powell, which I played at the memorial concert on Sunday. I will place it on my City Research Online portal later today.

Opinion: The legal tools given to the Office for Students since the Sussex case occurred should make it better able to conduct the vital task of protecting free speech, says @ianpace.bsky.social #edusky #freespeech https://ow.ly/CqjC50YRQRb

Pascal Dusapin turning pages for Ian Pace youtu.be/zWulkvOOOWI

I want to recommend so strongly this article, by the editor of @CAmericain_mag . Writing as a former scholar of Marxism, Elena conveys so vividly the struggle to overlook the massive contradictions, in the company of devout true believers. cafeamericainmag.com/you-owe-it-a...

And here is the longer version of the article. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

At City University for @ianpace.bsky.social recital: #Boulez 2nd Sonata, #Ravel Gaspard, new 🇯🇵 music. My kind of programme!

I'm reposting a few favourite blog posts onto Substack. Here is the first, written after the death of David Lodge, and considering the world portrayed in his novels through the lens of the changing landscape of British Higher Education. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

‘Rachel Fraser’s account of aesthetic injustice—arguing not against evaluation per se but against prejudiced misclassifications, or misreadings on the grounds of hierarchy—is a genuinely useful refinement.’ cafeamericainmag.com/the-art-of-j...

‘We desire this person rather than that one, for reasons that may be obscure, difficult to justify, embarrassing to admit, or only half available to consciousness…The modern squeamishness about saying this aloud has not abolished judgment.’ cafeamericainmag.com/the-art-of-j...

‘…what I call the managed affirmation contract, in which institutional or group belonging substitutes for intellectual accountability—does not protect anyone for long. It merely relocates judgment into the informal, implicit, and uncontestable.’ cafeamericainmag.com/the-art-of-j...

‘Lilith Whiley asks whether the peer review process embodies “inherent toxic masculinity…Another article drawing upon critical race theory claims that peer-review is “a process situated in white supremacy”’ cafeamericainmag.com/the-art-of-j...

‘Judgment is neither mechanical objectivity nor private caprice. It is fallible, arguable, vulnerable to distortion, yet still responsive to features of objects, persons and performances that are not simply invented by the beholder.’ cafeamericainmag.com/the-art-of-j...

Part 1 is now live of my essay ‘The Art of Judgment’, arguing for evaluation - in artistic, intellectual, pedagogical and intimate contexts - as something inevitable, part intersubjective, and an art developed through experience rather than just a technique. cafeamericainmag.com/the-art-of-j...

One week until this fantastic piano programme by @ianpace.bsky.social - Gaspard de la nuit, new Japanese works and Boulez's stonking 2nd Sonata (which I last heard him play at my book launch in May 2024): www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

So - here is my *second* post on Tracey Thorn/Everything But the Girl Fascination. Now a re-reading of it from the perspective of the beloved and the former lover, revealing a pattern of possessiveness and control approaching the coercive. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

My Substack post analysing in detail the song ‘Fascination’ by @traceythorn.bsky.social and Everything But the Girl, and considering its representation of corrosive jealousy in the context of a wide range of thinkers on the subject. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

So - here is my *second* post on Tracey Thorn/Everything But the Girl Fascination. Now a re-reading of it from the perspective of the beloved and the former lover, revealing a pattern of possessiveness and control approaching the coercive. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

On Friday I posted this piece about Tracey Thorn/Everything But the Girl ‘Fascination’. I re-read and realised something was missing - later today will post a second article re-conceiving it in terms of possessiveness and coercive control. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

My Substack post analysing in detail the song ‘Fascination’ by @traceythorn.bsky.social and Everything But the Girl, and considering its representation of corrosive jealousy in the context of a wide range of thinkers on the subject. open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

Hoping @traceythorn.bsky.social might be interested to read this! An incredible song making extremely refined use of resources.

First proper Substack post - an essay on the song 'Fascination' by @tracey_thorn /Everything But the Girl, a mixture of musical analysis and wider contextualisation through authors who have dealt with jealousy. @carolinefrmus.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/ianpace/...

Tonight - still some places. Come and hear my inspiring colleague Michael Ben-Gad. livingfreedom.org.uk/event/is-ant...

Very sad to hear about the death of great jazz pianist Mike Westbrook. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...