New York's WQXR Gets Hip, and Celebrates the Grammys

WQXR, the only remaining full-time classical music station in New York, and one of the only ones left in the country, is celebrating Grammy Month. (No, it’s not all about Lady Gaga.) Each week leading up to the awards ceremony on Sunday, January 31, WQXR will focus on one of the categories in which classical performances have been nominated. (WQXR switched to a public-radio format this past fall, and can now be found on 105.9 FM.)
Each week, pieces from the nominated albums will be played throughout that week, and also streamed on WQXR.org.
Categories include Best Classical Vocal Performance; Best Small Ensemble Performance; and Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra).
You can vote for your faves on their website, and these days, you can even follow them on Twitter and read a series of blogs; yes, classical music has entered the digital age.
In other WQXR news, venerable WQXR radio host George Jellinek, 90, passed away over the weekend. Jellinek created the radio program “The Vocal Scene” in 1969, a year after becoming the station’s music director. The show, which ran for 36 years, focused on opera and opera singers. It was syndicated on classical stations around the country, and became synonymous with WQXR.
Although he retired as music director in the mid-1980s, Jellinek stayed on as a consultant with the station until a few years ago. He was one of the great old-time classical-music voices in New York.

Venerable Classical Radio Station WQXR Moves Up the Dial

It’s been a bad week for cultural touchstones--first Gourmet Magazine folds, now New York’s venerable classic radio station WQXR is moving up the dial and changing into a public radio station and part of WNYC. Starting tonight, the soon-to-be-former New York Times-owned radio station will migrate from 96.3 FM to 105.9 FM. The switchover in frequencies will occur at 8:00 pm tonight at Carnegie Hall; the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is presenting its opening-night concert as the kickoff for their 37th season. The performance will include the world premiere of the Concerto with Echoes, by Aaron Jay Kernis, as well as Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks, and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.
WQXR, the country’s oldest commercial classical music station, will be preserved as New York’s only 24-hour classical music station. Now, however, it will be listener-supported.
WQXR has been broadcasting for more than 60 years at 96.3 FM, and has been owned by The New York Times for 65 years. The new format means no more commercials but the same familiar lineup of hosts (Jeff Spurgeon; Midge Woolsey) as well as familiar programming like Metropolitan Opera Radio Saturday Matinee Broadcasts. More web content will also be added.
Few cities even have full-time classical radio stations any more; WQXR was one of a dying breed. So New Yorkers and classical music lovers--show your support, and tune in early--and often.