A lot of us in the media have been casting about for the best way to support and promote the artists who create the classical music that we live and breathe. Their place in newspapers is shrinking, shrinking. In some communities the symbiotic relationship between the classical radio station and local musicians is strong and vibrant. In others not so much.
San Francisco has one great answer for our common dilemma, and it just turned 10 years old. It’s the website San Francisco Classical Voice.
Venerable classical broadcaster Norman Pellegrini passed away early this morning in Chicago. He was 79 years old.
Pellegrini started at Chicago’s legacy station WFMT at its founding in 1951, and served as the station’s Program Director for an amazing 43 years. He was responsible for the station’s eclectic mix of classical music by day, plus comedy and folk music on The Midnight Special. Norm hated the loud advertising and ubiquitous jingles on most commercial classical stations, and he is revered for sticking to his principles and keeping the advertising on WFMT quiet and dignified.
Chloe Veltman is a blogger on ArtsJournal.com and at VoiceBox – The Radio Show, but she’s also a new classical radio announcer on KALW in San Francisco. She agreed to be a guinea pig on this blog and reveal her innermost fears and joys at this new experience.
Do you hear that rumbling sound? That’s the sound of the creative class locomotive beginning to roar.
1200 of the nation’s arts leaders came to Seattle last week for the Americans for the Arts (AFTA) national conference. I thought you might like to hear some of the voices that are leading the national dialogue.