“One year ago this Tuesday, the Radio Arts Foundation officially brought classical music back to the St. Louis airwaves,” writes Sarah Bryan Miller in Sunday’s (4/6) St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri). “The region had been without a classical station since July 6, 2010, when the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, in a controversial move, sold KFUO-FM to a station with a different format.… Where do things stand one year out? … The signal has improved, although it’s still far from perfect, given that it has only 250 watts compared to KFUO’s 100,000.” The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Saturday night subscription broadcasts remain with KWMU-FM, but, says SLSO vice president Adam Crane in the article, the orchestra will continue to look for opportunities to collaborate with RAF. According to station general manager Jim Connett, “Collaboration is a big part of the station’s mission.… ‘The arts are a $500 million-a-year industry here in St. Louis. That’s a lot more than all of our sports teams generate. And there’s no reason not to have a station to be their voice.’ ”
Posted April 8, 2014
