WWFM may have dropped my weekly shows. But by heading west to KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon, I am that much closer to Japan.
This week, “The Lost Chord” continues, as we sample selections from Naxos’ “Japanese Classics Series.” We’ll hear Kiyoshige Koyama’s variations on a woodcutter’s song, “Kobiki-Uta” (1957), Qunihico Hashimoto’s symphonic suite “Heavenly Maiden and Fisherman” (1933), and Komei Abe’s neoclassical Symphony No. 1 (1957). Armchair travelers, your passage is paid!
I’ve got my hands full here at the moment, as I am in the process of arranging to take over production and distribution of “The Lost Chord” and “Picture Perfect.” Ideally, this means the shows will be heard more widely, but what is more exciting from a listener standpoint is that I will again be able to create new material. Part-time staff has not been allowed back in to the WWFM studios for over three years. You can thank the pandemic, the budget, and good old-fashioned, poor human relations skills.
The continuing decline of WWFM, once one of the finest classical music stations in the country, has been depressing for anyone who cares about music, with most of its passionate, dedicated staff driven off and replaced by an average of 20 hours a day of evaporated milk pumped in from Minnesota. One local host pops in for maybe four hours twice a week. You know something’s askew when during those hours you long for more Minnesota. The team of knowledgeable and enthusiastic record collectors that made the station so quirky and compellingly listenable is no more.
The pill would be less bitter, perhaps, if the canned version at least allowed the music to breathe, as opposed to chopping it up into the greatest moments of the greatest hits, and if the hosts weren’t so in love with their own chatter.
That said, despair not, friends! Quality classical radio still exists, and thankfully, it’s a small world after all. KWAX presents the music complete, the way the composers intended, and in a manner that won’t frustrate or annoy those who care about it. The general manager is Peter Van De Graaff, who once also had a substantial presence on WWFM, both in the early afternoons and overnights. If you remember Peter, you know the quality has got to be high.
In the evenings and on weekends, you’ll recognize other WWFM voices that have made their way west, including David Dubal on “The Piano Matters,” Mike Harrah on “The Lyric Stage,” Carl Hemmingsen on “Half Past,” and rotating hosts on “Sounds Choral,” alongside other syndicated programs that include “Classical Guitar Alive” with Tony Morris, “Pipe Dreams” with Michael Barone, and “Exploring Music” with Bill McGlaughlin. In addition, I must say, it’s good to be able to hear “Collector’s Corner” with Henry Fogel again.
In the days of the internet, it’s not only the maiden’s heavenly fisherman who realizes there are plenty of fish in the sea. If you’re tired of the blather-and-evaporated-milk approach to classical music programming, give KWAX a shot. I think you’ll be glad you did.
Whether we’re on different continents or on opposite coasts, the music brings us closer. Expand your horizons, with “Nippon Notes from Naxos,” on “The Lost Chord,” this SATURDAY at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (that’s 7:00 PM BACK EAST) on KWAX.
Here’s the schedule at a glance. Clip it and save!
PICTURE PERFECT – Fridays on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)
THE LOST CHORD – Saturdays on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)
Streaming here:
IMAGE: The road to wisdom is paved with broken radio
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