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Radio friend Karl Scroggin, who has been at WUIS in Springfield for nearly 30 years, was honored by his station this week with a retirement party and a gift of tickets to the Chicago Symphony and a stay at the historic Palmer House (where brownies were invented!). You can read more at LincolnCourier.com. More than 100 well-wishers stopped by Thursday to wish Scroggin a bon voyage in his retirement. A WUIS on-line description of Scroggin serves as a lasting tribute to him: “For 20 of the last 30 years, classical music enthusiasts have welcomed the … Continue Reading

WKU Public Radio in Bowling Green, KY is partnering with a local law firm to offer cash prizes for poetry written in response to classical music.  The contest is for high school students, who listen and choose from one of two pieces, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, or Vivaldi’s Mandolin Concerto.  They then write and submit their poems.  The top two winners get $500 and $200 respectively in savings bonds.  A nice way to celebrate National Poetry Month.  Read more here.

Andrew Druckenbrod at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes on his blog that Andre Previn lost his shpadoinkle in a radio interview with 90.5 Essential Public Radio.  It starts out like any old generic interview — could have been a little more focused maybe — but the interviewer, Paul Guggenheim found out that Previn really hates generic questions.  To his credit, Guggenheim never  retaliated or lost his cool.  Here’s the link for the audio. The real zingers are at 5:22 and 6:16 and around 7:30.  Previn says things like… You ask really ridiculous questions if you don’t mind my saying so. … Continue Reading

I’m going to cause my co-blogger some embarrassment, but this pitch break he did on his station in Portland is such a heartwarming expression of how Jack feels about classical radio, and I thought you might like to hear it.  The clip starts with violinist Gil Shaham saying how lucky Portland is to have a full time classical station.  Mid-day host Christa Wessel responds.  Then Jack talks about programming intelligently and about how listeners are partners in the process. [audio:http://www.insidethearts.com/scanningthedial/files/2012/03/Jack-Allen-pitch-break4.mp3|titles=Jack Allen pitch break] Good job, Jack.  Those of us who love classical … Continue Reading