My recent posts about Jill Pasternak have prompted me to go back and search out a few air checks of WFLN that I’d been able to find online. WFLN served as Philadelphia’s only full-time classical music radio station since 1949. Pasternak, who was hired in 1986, was the one tasked with bidding farewell, before the frequency’s changeover to a contemporary pop format, on September 5, 1997.
At the link below, you’ll find her in happier times, sitting in for Bill Shedden and hosting “Evening Concert” on August 20, 1989. Jill introduces music by Balakirev, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. (The audio cuts off shortly after she announces Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.”)
On the same page, there’s a sound file of Frank Kastner hosting on October 22, 1989. Kaster was the announcer who signed on the station on March 14, 1949 (his 25th birthday), playing Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture,” Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 from 78 rpm records. The playlist here consists of Léo Delibes’ “Coppélia” (in progress) and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Partita for String Orchestra (sadly, cutting off before the end).
PHOTO: Representatives of the WFLN crew in 1997, Jill Pasternak kneeling in front. I also recognize Mark Pinto (left), Dave Conant (obscured), Frank Kastner (with mustache), Charles Lee (white hair), Jack Moore (white jacket), Bill Shedden (blue shirt). Anyone know the others?
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