Classic Ross Amico

  • Halloween Radio Spooktacular & Membership Drive

    Halloween Radio Spooktacular & Membership Drive

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    Ross Amico
    in
    4 responses

    Happy Hallowe’en!

    Andy Williams may not exactly be in agreement, but for me it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

    I hope you’ll join me extra early today on The Classical Network, as I take to the air (and not just on my broomstick), beginning at 2:00 EDT, for an extended spree of Hallowe’en mischief. We’ll enjoy a veritable monster mash of music about goblins and ghosts, sorcerers and psychos, maledictions and mephistos – a phantasmagoric playground for those of us with impish dispositions.

    Sounds like great fun, doesn’t it?

    Alas! Like Norman Bates and the floors of his family motel, along the way, we’ll still need to mop up the remaining dollars from last week’s membership campaign shortfall.

    The good news is we are now only a few thousand dollars shy of our budget. Can you help us out? The sooner we drive a stake through the heart of this drive, the sooner we can gorge ourselves on Kit-Kats and roar cackling through haunted landscapes.

    Today is the last possible to day to reach our goal. What are you waiting for? It’s not like we’ll be taking your pledge in blood on human parchment – although we do hope you will opt to become a sustaining member. Call us now at 1-888-232-1212 or join us online at wwfm.org.

    Keep us ALIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

    As the capstone to our comedy of terrors, on this week’s “Music for Marlboro,” we’ll surrender to the delirium of moon-drunk madness with Arnold Schoenberg’s whacked-out masterpiece, “Pierrot Lunaire.” We’ll hear it performed at the 1969 Marlboro Music Festival by sprechstimme soloist Shirley Sudock and an instrumental ensemble made up of world class musicians, including flutist Paula Robison, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, violinist (and violist) Felix Galimir, cellist Ronald Leonard, and pianist Murray Perahia.

    Trick or treat? Perhaps both!

    There will be plenty of chills and candy corn. Join me for an extended ride through haunted houses, twisted psyches, and infernal regions. I’ll be ringing your doorbell and running, from 2 to 7 p.m. today, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

    Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page

  • Halloween Fundraiser Success Thank You WWFM

    Halloween Fundraiser Success Thank You WWFM

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    Ross Amico
    in
    6 responses

    Yay! We made our goal! Undying (and undead) thanks to all of you who came through with your support! Now we’ll be able to savor the rest of our Hallowe’en candy unhindered by earthly obligations. The scary music will rise, unimpeded, from 2 to 7 p.m. EDT – except, of course, for occasional pauses for me to offer on-air thanks.

    If you had been meaning to donate and haven’t had a chance, we certainly won’t turn you away now. Our zombified staff will be milling about for the remainder of our business hours, so feel free to call 1-888-232-1212; or you can contribute anytime at wwfm.org.

    If you had NOT been meaning to contribute, it’s probably a good idea to turn off the porch lights and act like you’re not home…

    We at WWFM – The Classical Network tip our pointy hats to our loyal and generous listener-members. Thank you again for keeping both our treat bags and our coffers full!

  • Faustian Bargains Classical Music Fundraiser

    Faustian Bargains Classical Music Fundraiser

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    Ross Amico
    in
    2 responses

    I’d considered selling my soul, just so that we could finally put this autumn fundraiser to bed – but the exchange rate is so BAD right now.

    Join me this afternoon on The Classical Network for a playlist of music reflective of rash bargaining, including Franz Liszt’s “A Faust Symphony,” Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale,” and Bernard Herrmann’s “The Devil and Daniel Webster.”

    Of course, every Faustian pact fulfilled comes with a slight catch.

    Technically, we concluded our “three-day” fall membership campaign on Friday. However, there was enough of a shortfall that now we have to make it up by the end of the month. The pitches are now “soft” – comparatively brief solicitations between the full-length pieces that make up the bulk of our regular programming – but unfortunately having to take care of unfinished business means that we’re beginning to cut into Hallowe’en.

    I already started trotting out the spooky stuff yesterday, as did Bill McGlaughlin, but I had to drop several pieces, or play them in a less-than-optimal sequence in order to take care of the pressing matter at hand. As of 7 p.m. yesterday, we were approximately $13,000 short of our budgetary requirement for this time of the year. This was, after all, our first on-air fundraiser since June.

    I hasten to add, thank you to all of you who have already given. Even yesterday, we took some very generous donations from concerned listeners who understand just how important it is that we raise the money. But it IS Hallowe’en. Wouldn’t we all rather just dress up and toilet paper some trees?

    If you haven’t contributed, and you can afford to drop a few goodies into our treat bag, please do so today. Also, alert your music-loving friends, if it’s not too awkward. We cherish our autonomy and our local hosts, and we know that you do, too. You can bolster the Count anytime by donating online at wwfm.org, or by calling us during business hours at 1-888-232-1212.

    Today’s Noontime Concert will come to us from the Lake George Music Festival. Tune in to enjoy works by Leonard Bernstein, David Ludwig, and Darius Milhaud. Then give the devil his due. It’s that time of year, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

  • Spooky Halloween Music on WWFM

    Spooky Halloween Music on WWFM

    by 

    Ross Amico
    in

    Now is the time to brush the cobwebs from the old chest in the attic, pry open the sarcophagus in the dank crypt of imagination, and reanimate the undead music of Hallowe’ens past. For the next three days, I’ll be spiking my playlists with selections of a decidedly spooky nature – alongside a few birthday celebrations and the usual station business. The sense of menace will culminate in a Hallowe’en blow-out on October 31, including an especially creepy “Music from Marlboro.”

    I have no idea what my colleagues have planned for the next few days, but here are the hours during which you are guaranteed to encounter at least a few musical chills (all times Eastern Daylight).

    Today: 3 to 7 p.m.
    Tomorrow: 1 to 4 p.m.
    Wednesday: 4 to 7 p.m.

    Please note: I will be on one hour earlier than usual today, providing an extra opportunity to throw a sheet over my head and cry boo!

    Don’t try buying me off with McDonald’s gift certificates. I only accept dimes, beginning this afternoon at 3:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

  • American Gothic Halloween Music

    American Gothic Halloween Music

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    Ross Amico
    in
    3 responses

    Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man!

    This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” with Hallowe’en lurking like a mad clown astride a vampiric spider around a Caligari corner, we’ll seek our thrills under the comparatively safe conditions of three American experiments in controlled terror.

    Wander the creepy cornfields of the overactive imagination with music by George Crumb (“A Haunted Landscape”), Morton Gould (“Jekyll and Hyde Variations”), and Dominick Argento (“Le Tombeau d’Edgar Poe”).

    Crumb, who was born on October 24, 1929, makes his home outside Philadelphia. Argento, who hails from York, PA, was born on October 27, 1927. Gould, born and bred in Queens, died in 1996 at the age of 82. All three composers were honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

    Walk softly around these spine-tingling exercises in American Gothic. Join me, if you dare, for “Grave Endeavors,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

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