The Top Classical Music Blogs in Canada

I've been following a number of classical music blogs written by Canadians for quite a long time now. Most of them have been mentioned on previous occasions and are listed on my blogroll. However, in light of Scott Spiegelberg's list of the top 53 classical music blogs on Musical Perceptions, I have decided to do a separate ranking of Canadian classical music blogs. In this respect, I am indebted to Scott for his choice of using Technorati in order to rank blogs in this niche. I have used the same type of format that he uses, but have added locations where known. Since Technorati is not a perfect ranking system, I briefly thought of including feed readership but decided against it, as inbound list and feed readership stats are like apples and oranges--a subscription account represents one person while an inbound link might result in hundreds or even thousands of visitors over time.

In addition to blogs written within Canada I decided to include expatriate blogs written by Canadians living out of the country. Campbell Vertsei's blog was the only one I could find that fit into this category.

A special mention must be made of the now defunct Chicago Canadienne written by Erin Wall in Chicago, certainly the most-read Canadian blog in this niche, ever. Although Erin stopped writing her blog and removed it from public viewing well over a year ago, Chicago Canadienne was an inspiration to me and others. Perhaps her negative experience is why nearly half the authors on the top 11 list are either anonymous or use a nom de plume.

As I mentioned on my list of the top 50 classical music feeds on Bloglines, this type of activity is not an awards ceremony to show which blogs are "better" than the others but a springboard for further reading of the sites on the list whether they are ranked or not.

Finally, I would like to put forward the idea that the classical music blogosphere in Canada represents the performers, teachers, and listeners who choose to write about their stories, views and experiences, is an integral part of the cultural life of this country, and should have the potential to be valued as much as publications in other media.

The Top 11

(blog title, Technorati ranking as of noon June 4 2007, author, location)

1. The Collaborative Piano Blog: 33 Chris Foley (Toronto/Oakville)
2. Campbell Vertesi--Bassus Canadensus: 21 Campbell Vertesi (Cincinnati)
3. PianoKnits: 7 eusebius (unknown location)
4. My Other Life: 6 soundtrk (Vancouver)
4. The Transcontinental: 6 Otto van Karajanstein (unknown location)
6. Willy or Won't he? 3 Willym (Gatineau)
7. Help! I'm a Postmodernist: 2 Margaret (Toronto)
7. Urban Flute Project: 2 Jamie Thompson (Toronto)
9. Eugene Chan on Violinist.com: 1 Eugene Chan (Burnaby)
9. s55ael: 1 anonymous (St. John's)
9. The Resonant Life: 1 Rebecca Hass (Victoria)
9. Atelier S: 1 Stuart Graham (Toronto)

Unranked on Technorati at time of writing:

Keywerx: RCM Community School Keyboard Faculty (Toronto)
CBC Radio Two Blog: various CBC hosts (across Canada)
Kelsey Z. on Violinist.com: Kelsey Z. (Okanagan)
Rhiannon Schmidt on Violinist.com: Rhiannon Schmidt (Salmon Arm)

Please note: this list includes blogs I have found over 19 months of blogging, as well as my own. It doesn't include any French-language classical music blogs written in Quebec. If you know of any other blogs that you feel should make the list (especially on MySpace or LiveJournal), please contact me either through email or comment. I'll be updating as information comes available.