Hello Friends,
Like you, WMNR Fine Arts Radio is taking each day as it comes and filling each day with music. And like you, we too
take comfort in the clarity of classical music, the joy of jazz, the exuberance of Broadway, the resiliency found in folk music, and the reassuring timelessness of the Great American Songbook
.
Radio stations are deemed essential infrastructure and we are nonetheless taking all recommended precautions, asking staff to work from home, and minimizing the personnel at the station at any given time. We are sticking to
our usual on-air schedule
and adding a few recorded-live concerts here and there.
Our
broadcasters, staff, and board operators
are keeping all this music coming to you while reacting to changing times. Board Op Roger Post answers the phones while he airs pre-recorded programs and tells us we’ve been receiving many calls from
listeners who appreciate the reliability of WMNR
. Cindy Carlson, Communications and Major Gifts, adds “I’ve been keeping our
social media
up from a home office and sharing listeners’ enthusiastic and appreciative comments with the whole WMNR family.”
Dick Hageman plans his
Good Folk
and
New Music Gallery
programs quite far in advance and tells us “I am using this enforced confinement to good purposes: planning new programs,
listening even more to WMNR for solace and peace
, and catching up on a number of old movie classics that I ordinarily don't have time to view.” Parker Prout of
Thursday Morning Classics
has been on-air live and tells us “With some input from a couple of listeners, I’m avoiding darker sounding works; I’m looking for
light, upbeat pieces in major keys
, like Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp in C, and eschewing longer works in minor keys. Still going for
diversity and variety
, however.”
Will Duchon of
Friday Evening Classics
and
The Night Café
tells listeners “I still broadcast from the WMNR studio and am thankful that I'm able to. I have not changed the music I tend to share very much at all, and rarely allude to the coronavirus situation, except in the sense that this forced self-quarantine offers hidden gifts, in that
I've had time to step back from my usual routine and look at the way I'm living from a different and unexpected perspective
. I am thankful for the privilege of broadcasting for WMNR during this time when
we all need to stay close to the music
.”
Garrett Stack plans a “Coping with COVID” program for Saturday, April 4th. Tune in at 4:00 pm when he tells us
American Jukebox®
will “look at pop, rock, and soul through the lens of the current pandemic that’s on everyone’s mind. Songs about fighting, winning, losing, stressing, and hope for tomorrow.
Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical, it’s all in how you interpret what you hear
.” Peter Shimkin tells us “the shutdown has provided the time and opportunity to start a long-planned project for
Evening at the Opera
,
devoted to singers of the Soviet era
. There are many great voices and much unfamiliar repertory for WMNR listeners to discover.”
General Manager Kurt Anderson has been finishing up a project which will be implemented in mid-April. Soon, beginning at 6:00 am each weekday, rather than a syndicated overnight service, we will air
two hours of classical music hosted by WMNR’s Gary Gerard
(who can also be heard on
Wednesday
and
Saturday Morning Classics
). These new programs contain longer works (three to five pieces per hour),
chosen for the early morning hours
. Broadcaster Dominique Johnson assisted in creating playlists for the hours which were then edited by Board Op Chris Baxter.
Thank you to all who are calling and writing to show appreciation for the station. Your kind words and financial support keep us moving forward! Though our traditional April fundraising week is postponed indefinitely, you can
still renew your membership, make an additional gift, and become a new or sustaining member
by
calling the station
during regular business hours or by
visiting wmnr.org
. We’re here for YOU because of YOU!
With deepest thanks
from all of us at WMNR Fine Arts Radio
