27 years ago this morning, I made by debut on WWFM – The Classical Network. Beloved radio personality Bliss Michelson, ever the avuncular presence, sat at my elbow as I opened the mic, my heart racing, and I introduced my first hour of selections.
This was at the end of one of Bliss’ weekday morning shifts. I would be left to fend for myself the following weekend. A lot of responsibility for a fledgling, and I took it very seriously. I rose at 4 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday (3 a.m. before the station went to 24 hours in 1997), drove an hour in the dark through all weather, and accrued a few flat tires and speeding tickets along the way.
When it snowed, I scaled the icy ladder to the deck on the roof to clean out the satellite dish. I stayed late if there was a malfunction. I came through in innumerable ways that were not part of the job description, to keep everything running smoothly when I was alone at the helm.
In January 2003, after much petitioning, I got the go ahead to produce my specialty show “The Lost Chord,” devoted to unusual and neglected repertoire. In 2010, I added “Picture Perfect,” my movie music show.
In 2011, as we expanded into New York, broadcasting on Columbia University’s HD2 channel, I was moved from weekend mornings to weekday afternoons, which I alternated with David Osenberg. By that time, I was also heavily into producing live and recorded broadcast concerts. I had become a crackerjack interviewer, with guests ranging from representatives of our local musical community to phoners with people like Leon Fleisher, Peter Schickele, Dawn Upshaw, JoAnn Falletta, Sharon Isbin, and Christopher Walken (who played a cellist in the film “A Late Quartet”).
Although, at the time I started, I already had nine years’ experience as a community broadcaster at WMUH Allentown and WXLV Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, I quaked at the enormity of the listenership (I myself had been listening in Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley for years), and because I didn’t want to mess up the opportunity. Detecting my anxiety, Bliss offered the following words of advice: “Remember, it’s just you and the microphone.”
Thus commenced my dream job, getting paid to share music I’ve selected with an audience of kindred spirits. Personally, I can’t think of a more perfect marriage of knowledge, ability, enthusiasm, resources (have you seen my record collection?), and performance.
It’s been said, get a job that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, that’s what it was for a good many years. Things weren’t always that simple, but in terms of it just being “me and the microphone,” the honeymoon was remarkably long.
Here’s the music I selected for my first hour on WWFM, at 9 a.m. on September 28, 1995:
HOWARD HANSON – Merry Mount: Suite
SIR PETER MAXWELL DAVIES – Farewell to Stromness
MUZIO CLEMENTI – Symphony No. 1
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG – Aria from “The Mirror of Arcadia”
PHOTO: In my glory, during a WWFM membership drive in 2016
