People

Holy Crap, Houston!

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Thanks to David Duff for pointing out the latest sheer insanity by classical  KUHA CEO Lisa Trapani Shumate.  In the city where the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University is turning out some of the greatest musicians of our era, this short-sighted manager has fired almost the entire staff of the classical station.  Her excuse was a pretty sketchy report of revenue shortfall, which usually is an indication of management not doing its job. From Houstonculturemap.com: Employees were told that lack of funds accrued from the recent nine-day fundraising campaign, which a source … Continue Reading

GM Out After Brief Stint at WRR in Dallas

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In unsurprising news, the Dallas Morning News reports that General Manager Sarah Colmark is out after only 19 months at WRR in Dallas: Colmark, a classically trained pianist who went to work at her dad’s Albuquerque radio station in 2008, came to Dallas in January 2012…  The city said at the time that her pay would be based in part on an “incentive” tied to “specific benchmarks of operating revenue.” But as the Dallas Observer notes today, per a memo sent to the council last month, the city-owned radio station’s expected revenue is down $611,000 … Continue Reading

San Antonio Lays Off On-Air Staff

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Classical station KPAC , 88.3 in San Antonio has laid off its entire on-air staff, including our good friends Randy Anderson, John Clare, James Baker, and Ron Moore, and plans to run Classical 24.  Deirdre  Saravia was also cut from full-time on-air, but has accepted a part-time post. From mysanantonio.com: Wayne Coble, vice president and interim general manager for Texas Public Radio (KPAC and KSTX-FM 89.1), said the station is now using “Classical 24,” a Minnesota Public Radio service that is picked up by many stations across the country and features Minnesota announcers. Though the changed fomat already has … Continue Reading

New Voices at WFMT

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Chicago audiences get to hear two new voices on flagship station WFMT. Candice Agree was formerly on the air at WQXR in New York, WETA in Washington DC, Sirius-XM, and WDAV in Davidson NC, and is a well-known off-camera voice on CBS news in the mornings. She’s taking the 3-7 pm slot on WFMT, in place of George Preston, who is the new GM at KCME in Colorado Springs. Suzanne Nance is is leaving her job as Director of Music, Performance and Cultural Affairs at Maine Public Broadcasting and host of Morning Classical Music.  She starts her new gig at WFMT in September.  However, her departure … Continue Reading

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