Unusually for me, I’ll have the conn this Thursday afternoon on The Classical Network. And what an assortment of birthdays to observe! Georges Auric, Jean Langlais, Michael Praetorius, Robert Fuchs, Friedrich Ernst Fesca, John Adams, Christopher Rouse, and Harold Arlen. Of course I’ll have a few other surprises along the way.

Where else are you going to find an afternoon playlist made up of music by these composers? Remember, it’s all made possible because of listeners just like you.

It’s Sustaining Member Appreciation Week at The Classical Network. I hope you will consider making a monthly commitment to the station in the form of an automatic charge to your credit card or bank account for whatever amount you decide. It could be $5, $10, $20 – you fix the amount. The donation will continue, once a month, until you tell us to stop. This will save us paperwork, it will save us man hours, and it will save us from losing revenue during the period after which a traditional, yearly membership will have lapsed. You can cancel or change your sustaining membership at any time.

We also encourage those of you who are already sustaining members to consider bumping up to the next level. If you’re already committed to $5 a month, do you think you can bump it up to $10? I mean, you’ll be abstaining from something during Lent anyway. Think about it – for the price of a doughnut and a coffee, you could double a $5-a-month investment in The Classical Network. You’d be strengthening the classical music service you love – and it’s a lot less fattening (Shatner).

Call us now at 1-888-232-1212, or visit our website at wwfm.org and click on the “We love our Sustaining Members” link at the top of the page, or the Valentine over to the right.

Thank you to all of you who have kept us strong over the past 35 years. I hope you’ll join me today – as a sustaining member – for another stimulating and uplifting playlist, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.