News roundup: stations enriching their musical communities

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Authormike72x72_3 In a post last week about the CBC controversy, I asked how classical stations in the U.S. might work to enrich the classical scenes in their communities. And lo, the heavens responded (well, really, Google did).

One article in the Rochester (Minn.) Post-Bulletin points out that an area station set aside airtime for the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale to raise money for the orchestra’s general budget. The orchestra even got some help from a local partner, the Rochester Honkers—a baseball team. (I wonder how the brass section feels about that arrangement.) “Sports don’t have to be divorced from classical music,” said the orchestra’s music director. “People just have to get over the hump. Once you’ve experience classical music live, you’re hooked.” And the radio station is actually an easy listening station. A novel three-way partnership that makes me wonder why Minnesota Public Radio’s local classical station, which actually carries the format, isn’t involved.

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More on the CBC

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There’s a passionate and well-written article by Janet Danielson in the Vancouver Sun from Monday about the CBC orchestra. Click here to read it. She reiterates the point that the CBC Orchestra plays new music by Canadian composers — content you won’t find anywhere else. Even if other orchestras pick up the baton that the CBC is dropping, it’s hard for them to get new music played on the radio. Program directors have a new-music filter. They always have to keep those ratings up. I suppose new music appeals more to a … Continue Reading

The MSO: an orchestra with a radio station?

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The CBC’s decision to shed its radio orchestra has generated plenty of controversy. But across the border in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a story is playing out that is precisely the opposite of the CBC hubbub: an orchestra that wants to start its own radio station.

Last fall, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra took a step toward making history when it applied to the Federal Communications Commission for an FM radio license. If it succeeds, the orchestra will, to my knowledge, be the first in the United States to run a radio station. The orchestra hopes to use the station to air selections from its archive of recorded performances and promote its concerts to the Milwaukee community.

I worked with the MSO on the application process as part of a temporary job with the Future of Music Coalition, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that advocates on behalf of musicians in the realms of technology and public policy. We scoured the country looking for arts and cultural groups that might want to apply for radio stations, taking advantage of a rare opportunity presented by the FCC. It had been more than seven years since the commission accepted applications for noncommercial FM stations, and the demand for new licenses was high. We wanted to make sure that deserving would-be broadcasters didn’t miss out.

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“Live” is Alive and Well in Boston

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Making a mistake on a blog is a little like fighting with your spouse. It’s the kissing and making up that’s fun. When I wrote about the CBC earlier, I grouped WGBH in with a bunch of other stations that I thought were doing less live music. I’m delighted to be wrong! Brian Bell writes: I’ve been doing the live Friday afternoon broadcasts of the BSO since 1991, when William Pierce retired and have been doing Sunday afternoons at Tanglewood, all live, and since this past year, we’re doing the Friday night … Continue Reading

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