A few miscellaneous notes this morning. First off, a blogger for OrlandoSentinel.com reports that Dave Glerum, a classical host at WMFE in Orlando, Fla., was among the employees laid off last week when the station cut a quarter of its staff.
“Glerum was the station’s music director — which makes me wonder how a classical-music radio station can go on without someone programming its classical music,” writes the blogger. Good question. Classical 24, perhaps?
Music critic D. S. Crafts wrote in his year-end review in the Albuquerque Journal:
The biggest news this year on the classical music scene was not in the concert halls, but on the airwaves. After Bob Bishop was laid off from KHFM, many of the on-air personalities resigned in protest, most notably Kip Allen. The station continues to operate, but the essential character that made the station so successful is gone. It is a shame that mere legal ownership (by out-of-state American General Media) allows such insensitive changes to the nature of beauty and companionship, which were at the core of this once-beloved cultural institution.
I have an aunt who sends me clippings — articles about music from all kinds of sources. This week she sent me an article by David Schiff with the title printed above. It was from the New York Times, dated May 31, 1998.
It could have been written today.
I was in Grant Park Tuesday night for the big event, and it was the most thrilling experience you can imagine. Besides the electricity and unbridled joy of the occasion, it was about 90% young people. All races, all nationalities, all income levels. They were powered by hope, and their energy was infectious. I couldn’t help but think that this was an entire generation of computer-savvy kids, who are looking for answers and who want something our generation hasn’t given them.