Classical Music Initiative Update: Production Workshop Yields High Energy, Enthusiasm and Opportunities for Collaboration in Classical Music Media

Contact:  Andrea Matthews
(651) 290-1113
amatthews@americanpublicmedia.us
www.americanpublicmedia.us

Classical Music Initiative Update:

Production Workshop Yields High Energy, Enthusiasm and Opportunities for Collaboration in Classical Music Media

Keynote addresses and more available at the
Classical Music Initiative Web site

(St. Paul, Minn.) November 4, 2004 — The Production Workshop hosted by American Public Media’s Classical Music Initiative (CMI) October 20-22 brought together 13 radio and new media producers and hosts from around the nation to provide training in production and presentation for classical music programming.

The two outstanding keynote addresses of this workshop are available in audio and print at the Classical Music Initiative Web site, www.classicalmusicinitiative.org/workshops. Terry Teachout, performing arts critic, journalist, author and ArtsJournal.com blogger, titled his address: “What to Learn from Howard Stern: Can Old and New Media Coexist?” Tod Machover, Professor of Music and Media at the MIT Media Lab and “America’s most wired” composer” (Los Angeles Times) called his keynote “Building Active Listeners through New Media Technology.” A snapshot of each:

• Terry Teachout: “This is a critical moment for classical radio producerslike you. My guess is that classical radio is in the process of breakinginto three different pieces. Traditional terrestrial radio is being supplemented – andmay in time be replaced – by subscriber-funded satellite radio andWeb-based Internet radio. The emergence of these new media has made it possibleto ‘narrowcast’ a much wider variety of programs aimed at smallerniche audiences. And this is where it gets interesting for you – becauseall three media will offer sharply differing kinds of markets for yourservices.”

• Tod Machover points to a world where music is personalized, bytaste and delivery mode: where radios, cell phones, and game consoles becomedelivery platforms that allow listeners to navigate between streams, zoomin on details, and listen to Kabuki-style "whisper commentary." Hedescribed the work of his Hyperinstruments group at MIT, which designs musicalinstruments as interactive tools and toys for learning and creating music,as a means to "develop [music's] transformative power as a counterpointto our everyday lives."

The Production Workshop was created as part of the Classical Music Initiative,a project that aims to expand the role of radio and new technologies in ourclassical music communities, and offer great opportunities to inspire appreciationand participation in the arts, build audiences and enrich lives. (More informationon the CMI is available at www.classicalmusicinitiative.org.)

Enthusiasm from participants and workshop leaders was high:

• CMI project director Mary Lee said the response to their requestfor workshop applicants exceeded expectations, and that the workshopgenerated a great deal of excitement and energy. “We metan incredible group of lively, creative participants who are deeplycommitted to the growth of classical music media and eager for additionaltraining. The Workshop also provided a rare opportunity for producersto get together and share ideas.”

• Workshop participant Alicia Zuckerman — an arts and culturereporter and producer at WNYC (New York Public Radio) — said, “Theworkshop was a terrific reminder of why I love radio and classicalmusic, and it ignited a fire in me to think more deeply about the marriageof musicand media and where they can go from here.”

In addition to Alicia Zuckerman, the workshop participants wereSarah Cahill from KALW in Berkeley, CA; Aaron Cohen of New York’sWNYC; Susan Fitzgerald of KTOO in Juneau, Alaska; David Fordof WFDD inWinston Salem, NC; Jennifer Foster of WDAV in Davison, NC; JamesD. Jacobs of WNYEin Brooklyn, NY; Brian McCreath, a Web producer for WGBH in Boston;Tim McDonnell from KBAQ in Phoenix; Glenn Zucman of Strange Angelsin Rosemead, CA; and Suzanne Schaffer, Kathryn Slusher and LaurenRico from MinnesotaPublic Radio in St. Paul. (More information about workshop participantsis available on the CMI Web site.)

Workshop presentations on producing for radio and new media were ledby American Public Media staff, including Don Lee (Style and Substance:Writing for Radio), Tom Voegeli (Finding the Creative Difference),Brian Newhouse (Staying Curious: The Unexpected Interview), and PrestonWright on interactive Web sites (Getting the Audience to Play withYou).

The Classical Music Initiative is continuing to accept proposals for itsProduction Fund. A primary aim of the Fund is to invest in new concepts andapproaches for conveying classical music to broad audiences using radio,the Internet and/or other emerging technologies. Proposal information isavailable at www.classicalmusicinitiative.org.

The Classical Music Initiative Production Workshop is supported, in part,by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional financial support is providedby Mr. and Mrs. Howard Solomon.

American Public Media™ is the nation's second-biggestproducer of public radio programs, reaching 13.5 million listenersnationwide each week. Nationalprograms include A Prairie Home Companion®, Saint Paul Sunday®, Marketplace®,Sound Money®, The Splendid Table®, Being™ andspecial reports produced by its national documentary unit, American RadioWorks®.American Public Media is the national production and distribution divisionof Minnesota Public Radio®. Minnesota Public Radio, along with its sistercompany Southern California Public Radio, belongs to a larger familyof companies within American Public Media Group, a national nonprofitorganization whosepurpose is to develop resources, services and systems to support publicmedia for public service. A complete list of stations, programs andadditional services can be obtained at www.americanpublicmedia.us.

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Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc. Arbitron data are estimatesonly.
Spring 2004