Olivia Giovetti

Who is Olivia Giovetti?

Olivia Giovetti is an American author, journalist, music critic and radio personality. She was known as the host of The New Canon, a weekly show as part of the programming for Q2 Music, an affiliate of WQXR-FM in New York. Giovetti has also appeared on-air for WQXR proper and writes for the station's website. Her work with The New Canon has made her a prominent figure within the contemporary classical scene in New York, bringing composers like David Lang, David T. Little, Steven Mackey, and John Luther Adams to wider audiences with interactive interviews. Her work with the station has been featured in notable media publications, including New York magazine, NPR, and Alex Ross's blog "The Rest is Noise."

She gained added notoriety in 2012 after a blog post, critical of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen and the company's General Manager, Peter Gelb, written for WQXR's opera blog was rescinded after Gelb personally complained to the station. The incident was reported by the New York Times and later made the paper's front page when a similar story of Gelb's strained relationship to the press was reported.

In 2013, Giovetti premiered a scene from a new opera she wrote with composer Mohammed Fairouz, based on the life of Benazir Bhutto, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.