Howard Reich deciphers society through its artistic legacy. Currently contributing to The Forward, his work excavates the intersection of cultural production and historical memory.
Successful Pitches Demonstrate:
"What happened to Mac's forebears in the Holocaust and what happened to Mac in Vietnam should never be forgotten." - Howard Reich on the operatic adaptation of his investigative work
Reich's 2025 analysis dissects the unintended consequences of trade policies on cultural diplomacy. Through interviews with Israeli musicians and Palestinian arts organizers, he demonstrates how tariff proposals inadvertently amplified BDS movement narratives. The piece uniquely contextualizes economic policy through the lens of artistic exchange, tracking how jazz collaborations and museum loans became collateral damage in geopolitical maneuvering.
This groundbreaking 2001 investigation into Louis Armstrong's secret tapes redefined jazz historiography. Reich spent 18 months authenticating the recordings, collaborating with audio archivists to restore damaged reels. His revelation of Armstrong's political frustrations beneath his public persona sparked academic reevaluations of jazz's role in civil rights activism.
In this 2025 profile, Reich analyzes political rhetoric through liturgical frameworks. He traces how Booker's marathon Senate speech incorporated melodic cadences from Shabbat services, interviewing ethnomusicologists to map the senator's tonal patterns against traditional cantillation.
Reich maintains particular interest in unresolved Nazi-looted art cases, especially those involving musical manuscripts or instruments. His 2002 Tribune series on a looted Stradivarius led to three repatriations. Successful pitches include provenance research with clear contemporary relevance.
While avoiding well-trodden biopics, Reich seeks stories illuminating jazz's role in social movements. His Pulitzer juror experience makes him receptive to works demonstrating archival rigor, like 2021's exploration of Duke Ellington's hidden Civil Rights-era compositions.
Pitches intersecting musicology with unexpected fields gain traction. His 2025 Forward piece examining tariff policies through orchestra budgets exemplifies this approach. Competitive proposals might explore AI's impact on blues preservation or climate change's effect on instrument craftsmanship.
Reich's 2010 Kartemquin Films collaboration Prisoner of Her Past earned broadcast journalism's highest honor for its innovative integration of Holocaust testimony with musical therapy analysis. The documentary pioneered trauma-informed interview techniques now standard in historical journalism.
His four-term service on the Pulitzer music jury, including the landmark selection of Wynton Marsalis' Blood on the Fields, cemented his reputation as a gatekeeper of artistic legitimacy. This role informs his ongoing advocacy for expanding canonical definitions of American music.
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Music, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
