Those of us in the biz have studied at length how classical radio can survive, or even thrive, when its main proponents are in serious decline. Alex Ross posts a scary graph in his Feb. 3rd article in the New Yorker.
Every classical organization in America should print out this graph, pin it on the bulletin board, and ponder what is to be done. If the light-gray line doesn’t reverse direction in the next ten years, those organizations may begin to fold.
So, by now you’ve probably heard about the new kid on the block in Seattle. Alexander Prior, no relation to the comedian but a crazy connection to the world of method acting, is just 17 but apparently no joke. His great-great grandfather was Stanislavsky, the famous founder of a system from which method acting was derived. The British lad apparently has a deep enough well of personal musical experience from which to draw for his own emotional connection to the music, as Stanislavsky would say, to seek “theatrical truth” with his more than 40 works including symphonies, operas and a requiem.
Some would disagree. The UK’s Telegraph on-line calls him, “insufferably cocksure”. That’s what you call a proper British snub.
Happy New Year! We start the year with good news in Oxford, Mississippi where the sale of a translator by San Diego’s Christian Broadcasting has brought classical music to the town’s airwaves. If you’re in Oxford you should be able to pick up Memphis-station WKNO, a mix of NPR shows and classical music, at 103.1.
Here is the third article in our series adapted from contributions to the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio’s e-mail list. In this installment, General Manager Douglas Evans and Marketing Manager Jason Hughes discuss their promotional campaign for a brand-new all-classical station — Miami’s Classical South Florida.
In October 2007, American Public Media officially started broadcasting on WKCP 89.7 in Miami/Fort Lauderdale and on 101.9 in the Palm Beaches. Since the demise of commercial station WTMI, South Florida had been without a radio station devoted to classical music. While there are two other public radio stations in the South Florida market, only WKCP broadcasts classical music 24 hours a day, seven days a week.