Current Contributors

Hanne Appelbaum (Editor-in-Chief emerita) was born in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and moved to the Twin Cities to take up a career as a classroom paraprofessional. She is the mother of three-coming-on-four children, an enthusiastic educator, and a passionate fan of dance in all of its forms. She enjoys ice skating, Game of Thrones (books over HBO, but who’s counting), and restaurant dives. Although she writes the occasional rambling editorial and review, most of her time is spent behind the scenes.

John Anderson is a lifelong theatre fan turned theatre reviewer. He is the 3rd Editor-in-Chief of the Twin Cities Arts Reader.

Brian H. Bix (Staff Reviewer) grew up in the Twin Cities and is currently a Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Minnesota.  He has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues.

David Bix (Staff Reviewer) is a music critic.

Basil Considine (Editor in Chief emeritus) is Minnesota’s pre-eminent opera critic. A native of the Boston area who moved to Minnesota in 2013, he joined the Twin Cities Arts Reader after stints at the Boston Music Intelligencer and the Twin Cities Daily Planet, where he was the Resident Classical Music and Drama Critic from 2013-2015. He holds a PhD in Music and Drama from Boston University; his scholarly works on Donizetti and P.G. Wodehouse are available from Ashgate and Brepols.

Outside of the Arts Reader, Basil serves as the Artistic Director of Really Spicy Opera and as a freelance theatre director. He was the Regional Governor of the National Opera Association’s North Central Region from 2015-2016. He continues to write the occasional guest feature and review for the Boston Music Intelligencer and The Chattanoogan.

Amy Donahue (Staff Reviewer) is the Arts Reader‘s intern-turned-staff reviewer. She studied abroad in Europe in Fall 2017 and admits to being at least 50% terrified by contemporary German opera stagings.

Daniel P. Reiva (Staff Reviewer) is a Twin Cities theatre professional. Prior to joining the Twin Cities Arts Reader, he wrote for the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Leif Andrews Rissanen (Publisher) is excited to make the switch from graphic design and desktop publishing to the newspaper and magazine industry. A native of the western suburbs, he lives in Anoka with his beloved daughter Marilyn and his golden retrievers Bella and Scruffy. When not working or being a parent, he is an avid fan of Crossfit and intramural soccer.

Bev Wolfe (Staff Reviewer) is an attorney and avid theatre fan who has written theatre reviews for local publications since 2008. Prior to joining the Twin Cities Arts Reader, she wrote for the Twin Cities Daily Planet and Rift Magazine. She is also an Ivey Awards evaluator.

Past Contributors

Kit Bix (Staff Reviewer) is a writer, educator, and theatre artist in the Twin Cities. She is also a writer for Talkin’ Broadway.

Lydia Lunning (Staff Reviewer) is a singer, dancer, and staff member at Walden University. She has worked as a freelance editor and was on the editorial staff of the Cricket Magazine Group. She holds an MA in English literature from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s from Oberlin College.

Jenny Martel (Senior Art Critic) is a writer and editor with 17 years of communications experience. She holds an MA in Art History (University of St. Thomas) and a BA in English and Environmental Science (University of Minnesota), and held positions with the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the American Museum of Asmat Art. Her writing has appeared in African Arts.

Ali O’Reilly (Associate Music Editor) is a writer and performance artist. A graduate of Columbia College Chicago, she has written for City Pages, McSweeney’s, Thought Catalog, and Revolver, and has performed with Mortified Live! and the Minneapolis Fringe Festival. Her conceptual work has been shown at Fresh Oysters Research Center, CityWide Artist Gallery, and the American Swedish Institute.

Jeff Rutherford (Music & Event Photographer) has photographed events from the Academy Awards to Taylor Swift at the Xcel Energy Center, published photography in books and magazines, and presented his work in exhibition form. He is an active freelance photographer in the Twin Cities.

Announcements, news items, and short and collectively written pieces by the Arts Reader staff typically appear under the credit Twin Cities Arts Reader.