“For the past 22 years, music lovers across the Chicago area have awoken to the sounds of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms … and Grapentine,” writes Howard Reich in Tuesday’s (7/17) Chicago Tribune. “Alas, Carl Grapentine’s remarkably enduring run on Chicago’s [WFMT-FM] ends July 27 [when] Grapentine, 69, will … head into the small, dimly lit broadcast booth…. Come 5:58 a.m., Grapentine will begin his work…. At 10 a.m., he’ll sign off, retiring to his home state of Michigan, where he’ll continue to be the ‘stadium voice’ of the University of Michigan Marching Band … at his beloved alma mater. To this day, Grapentine refers to his gig as ‘a dream job.’ … He had very different plans as a music student… ‘First I thought I was going to be a band director,’ recalls Grapentine. ‘Then I thought I was going to be a choral director. Then I was going to … become a minister.’ … Grapentine’s … voice won’t be gone. He’ll record a daily ‘Carl’s Almanac’ segment that will air at 7:30 a.m. weekdays starting Sept. 3. And … he’ll create a podcast that a WFMT release calls ‘Carl’s most popular commentaries.’ ” Grapentine’s successor has not been announced.
Posted July 20, 2018
