Music scholar Richard Taruskin talked about his controversial views on censoring musical performances that contain anti-Semitic or other offensive sentiments during the 2008 Kritikos lectures in Eugene and Portland. During his UO visit, Taruskin led a graduate seminar and met with a group of undergraduate students from the Living Learning Center residence hall. He also met with Oregon Bach Festival organizers to discuss the controversial text of St. John Passion, which includes anti-Semitic language. Taruskin is a specialist in several fields of music history. He is the author of the “Oxford History of Western Music” and six other books. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and The New Republic and has won numerous awards for his scholarship.