CBC hires new classical host; the plight of jazz radio

There’s been little news to report as of late regarding the uproar over programming changes on CBC Radio, but the Vancouver Sun today features a profile of Julie Nesrallah, a mezzo-soprano from Ottawa who has been named the host of CBC Radio Two’s new flagship classical show to debut in September. Nesrallah has no previous experience with radio, but CBC execs say she bowled them over with her innate grasp of the medium. The article highlights how the new host plans to approach her job:

[Nesrallah] says she hopes to help de-mystify classical music for those who think it’s difficult, and she says her own story serves as an example.

Nesrallah’s family did not listen to classical music or opera when she was growing up. She discovered it through school choirs and the encouragement of music teachers like Sylvia Darwood at Alta Vista Public School, who recognized a promising singing voice.

“You don’t have to grow up with Haydn at teatime to appreciate classical music,” says Nesrallah.

“You can be a middle-class Lebanese kid from Ottawa who waitressed and put themselves through school, and you can dig classical music. I hope I’ll be able to deliver it in a way that’s interesting.”

Here’s the full article.

Another recent article of interest is from the blog of the jazz.com website, where a writer reflects on a recent gathering of jazz industry stakeholders. He compares the JazzWeek summit in Rochester, N.Y., to the National Performing Arts Convention and shares some conclusions that might also apply to classical radio and the classical music world:

From the outset it seemed clear that just like many of the stakeholders in the jazz industry, just like many of the participants in the much larger performing arts community, there is structural fragmentation, i.e., a lack of internal mission consensus, a lack of collaboration, and a lack of community outreach, to the detriment of everyone.

… and, later in the post …

It is time, quite clearly, for the performing arts world to pull together at the national, local, individual and group levels. The performing arts in the United States need to turn a corner. To do so, however, requires a collectivity of action.

This raises the questions: In what ways might classical stations need to work more closely with other stakeholders in the classical sphere? And to what extent is the future of classical radio intertwined with that of classical performance and sales of recordings?