More Classical in CA, Republican Irony, and Sirius XM Filing Bankruptcy?

Where shall I start?  There’s so much news!

Let’s start with the Republican hypocrisy irony,  since the Stimulus Bill is on everyone’s mind.  Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but the final bill apparently really does cut the hoped-for $50 million in NEA funding.

UPDATE 2-12-09: A press release just sent out by the RNCC claims:

Democrats said they would fight for fiscal responsibility in Washington, but went back on their promise by voting for $335 million in STD prevention, $75 million for smoking cessation and even $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts.

Does this mean the NEA funding is back in?  Stay tuned.

The author of that cut in the Senate was Tom Coburn (R – Oklahoma), whose daughter Sarah, ironically, is a top-notch opera singer.  The LA Times just ran this story about her.  He considers museums, theaters and arts centers “wasteful and non-stimulative projects.”

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Extra-terrestrial Classical Radio

Ok, well, maybe extraterrestrial isn’t the term you’d use, but this post is about classical music radio outside of the terrestrial stations — two sources in particular: 1) the new, combined Sirius XM classical channel which they call Symphony Hall, currently on channel 80 on Sirius and 78 on XM, and 2) Naxos Web Radio, which has 80 (!!!!!!!!!) classical channels, divided by genre.  Both are subscription services.

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Kathy Gronau of Creative PR: The State of Classical Music Radio

Authormarty72x72 You have a great idea for a radio series. You have the skill to create some shows, and the musicians have signed off on the rights to put the music on the air. But you don’t know how to get stations interested in your shows. Well, one of the strengths of the classical radio world is the network of people who know the biz and are always keeping an ear open for great programming. Enter Kathy Gronau and her organization, Creative Public Radio.

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