KBPS Staff

Jack Allen
President & CEO
jack@allclassical.org

Radio was a second career for Jack and the perfect fit as it turns out. After 17 years serving at various stations around the country - WMRA in Harrisonburg, Va., Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, and KMFA in Austin, Texas - he now realizes the old adage is true: find a job that you love and you'll never work another day in your life. When not 'making radio' Jack can be found writing essays, traveling, reading, playing chess, biking, cooking up a favorite dish with a friend, or being dragged around the block by his beloved 4 year-old boxer Max.

Renee Valerie Johns
Office Manager
renee@allclassical.org

I am a Detroit native, and I moved to beautiful Portland in 2001 with my now-husband, Chris. Our children, Oscar and Lil’ Momma, are the best kitties one could hope for. As you might suspect, music and art has been the touchstone and the centerpiece of my life. It is not a luxury; it is a necessity! In addition to classical music, I enjoy: jazz, indie rock/pop, abstract, folk, and 60s’ pop. When I’m not at the station, you might find me poring over an enormous atlas or my beloved almanac, particularly studying African countries and their past.

Sally Lewis
Vice President of Development & Marketing
sallylewis@allclassical.org

Sally has 25 years experience in nonprofit management in the Portland metro area, including the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette, MHCC, Oregon Trout, Dove Lewis Emergency Animal Hospital, IFCC, Portland Youth Philharmonic and the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation. Her expertise lies in development, marketing, board development and strategic planning.She holds a BA in English Education from OSU and has worked as a consultant for area nonprofits.

Mary Evjen
Public Information & Volunteer Coordinator
evjen@allclassical.org

What began as a part-time job to have more time with my young daughter, turned into a radio career at All Classical. Although my official job title is Communications Coordinator, I also wear the hats of writer and editor, staff photographer, event coordinator and volunteer coordinator. Making friends with our wonderfully diverse family of volunteers is closest to my heart.

My parents instilled love for music at an early age. They would be delighted to know my piano gets dusted off from time to time, and I still have fond memories of singing the benediction at school assemblies.

Being a part of All Classical has enriched my life, not only as an employee, but also as a supporter and listener. Oh, by the way, that daughter of mine is now 25!

Deborah Gensman
Supervisor of Membership Services
deborah@allclassical.org

Andrea Rennie
Development Associate
andrearennie@allclassical.org

Andrea comes to KBPS as a recent college graduate with a degree in Music Business and a minor in marketing from Washington State University. As a musician, she plays percussion and viola and enjoys performing and teaching lessons. Andrea spent the winter in California as a marketing intern with Yamaha Corporation of America, but as an Olympia native she is excited to be back in the Northwest and working with Portland’s All Classical 89.9.

Katherine Lefever
Development Associate
katherine@allclassical.org

John Silliman Dodge
Vice President of Programming
johndodge@allclassical.org

John has a 25 year career that spans and integrates music, media and broadcast management. In addition to his role at KBPS, he also consults with stations around the country. He pioneered the new school of classical programming for WCRB in Boston, and was also Program Director for KidStar Interactive Media, the Seattle-based, award winning national children’s multimedia network that spawned Radio Disney. He is a graduate of Ohio University’s School of Telecommunications, a Julliard School of Music student and a recording artist for ATCO Records.

John Pitman
Music Director and On-Air Host
john@allclassical.org

A Portland native and graduate of Benson Polytechnic, John Pitman is our Music Director of 89.9. He is heard M-F, 3:00 to 7:00 pm, sharing with listeners his love of classical music. John began part-time at KBPS in 1983 as a "board op", gradually honing his skills as a classical music announcer and absorbing the knowledge of the two hosts of the time: Darryl Conser and Tania Thompson.

As Music Director, John is responsible for making sure that the enormous body of work we call “classical" is heard with the right balance of all the styles, musical periods and moods that the music offers. John produces features for All Classical 89.9's weekly arts/music calendar and Northwest Previews (Thursdays at 7 pm). He catalogs and maintains the entire KBPS music library.
When not at work, John enjoys attending concerts, fair-weather bicycling with his wife, growing tomatoes, garlic and onions for marinara in the summer and has recently taken up painting in oils and acrylics (some still-life and landscape subjects).

Robert McBride
On-Air Host
robert@allclassical.org

Robert regularly hosts from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. weekdays. He also hosts and produces Club Mod, a program about modernism in music. Club Mod airs from 7:00 to 9:00 on Saturday nights, and explores the ways composers of the past have "pushed the envelope" musically and presents works by the composers of today.

Robert grew up in Idaho, and started his radio career at KWAX in Eugene. He was the music director at OPB Radio in Portland for nine years and has also worked at classical radio stations in Seattle, Buffalo and elsewhere, and free-lanced for National Public Radio in Washington, DC. He says his career highlights include recording concerts at the Oregon Bach Festival, occasionally hosting Performance Today, and co-producing two live, nation-wide broadcasts of Handel's Messiah, performed by the Portland Baroque Orchestra and Chorus. He's also a percussionist and a composer. Robert was commissioned by Portland's Columbia Symphony Orchestra to write a work for their 25th anniversary season, which was premiered in February of 2007. His first choral work was premiered by the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir in December of 2007. He's now at work on pieces for the Pacific Youth Choir and Fear No Music. As a percussionist he's performed with guitarist Scott Kritzer and with the Reed College Chamber Orchestra.

Christa Wessel
On-Air Host
Christa@AllClassical.org

Classical music has long been a part of Christa Wessel's life. She began playing French horn when she was 12 years old; her talent led her to Northwestern University, where she studied with members of the Chicago Symphony. She initially intended to major in performance but instead obtained her degree in Arts Administration. Christa worked for various arts organizations in the Chicago area (including the Lyric Opera and Ravinia) before she tired of the bitter cold . . . she then moved to North Carolina to thaw out. After several years with the American Dance Festival in Durham she briefly worked for a small web-design company. On a whim Christa applied for a shift at Duke University's community radio station, WXDU, where she created the popular program "Divaville," highlighting 1950s-era jazz vocalists. This radio experience then led her to classical station WCPE-FM, rekindling her love of classical music. Christa has been an on-air host and webmaster for WCPE since 1998. She is incredibly excited to now ditch the blistering summers of North Carolina for an entirely different climate.

John Burk
On-Air Host
johnb@allclassical.org

John is host of our weekday dinner hour program, Tafelmusic (7–9 p.m.), and our Thursday evening program featuring upcoming local performances, Northwest Previews (6 p.m.)

He began announcing classical music at Northern Michigan University as a student at the end of the 1960s and has served as an announcer, development director, music director and program director at stations in Michigan, Illinois and Arizona.

When he's not at work John enjoys reading (“everything from poetry to murder mysteries,”) cooking, eating out, attending concerts and recitals, and when the neighbors are willing, torturing medieval and Renaissance music with his soprano recorder.

Pat McElroy
On-Air Host
pat@allclassical.org

Pat McElroy was formerly heard in Detroit at WQRS, Classical 105.1 He is our Saturday morning host on 89.9 an our opera impresario.

An accomplished actor, Pat has performed in numerous plays and films, including the role of Jesus in the award-winning film "Divine Mercy No Escape" with Helen Hayes.

Pat has also taught music appreciation for Dearborn Adult Education and regularly gives pre-concert talks for the Oregon Symphony's guest conductors.

Edmund Stone
On-Air Host
edmund@allclassical.org

Edmund Stone is heard each Saturday and Sunday afternoons on 89.9.

He grew up on an English farm, toured in Romeo & Juliet before moving to Scotland where he reviewed films for BBC Radio and Thompson Publications.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1980, he covered the Academy Awards and narrated more than 1,000 educational audio cassettes.

A Beaverton resident since 1990, Edmund continues to voice commercials and emcee events. When not indulging his passion for classical music, animals (two dogs and three cats) and gardening (he’s a vegetarian who grows his own food), Edmund is liaison officer and development director for a chimpanzee rescue center in Cameroon, West Africa.

Ed Goldberg
On-Air Host
ed@allclassical.org

Ed Goldberg was born in The Bronx, New York in 1943. After dropping out of college in 1962, he attempted to do stand-up comedy, unsuccessfully. He wrote for a few of the underground papers in New York. He moved to Washington, DC, in 1973, became a technical writer, and wrote features and reviews for a monthly arts and entertainment paper, including covering the punk-rock scene.
In 1991, Ed moved to Portland and finished his novel Served Cold, winner of the 1995 Shamus Award for best original paperback fiction. His third novel, True Crime, (as “Alan Gold”) was published in February 2005 and True Faith in January 2007. He is currently working on a new book.

Ed has always been a jazz fan, and started listening to classical music seriously in the late Sixties. In addition to his work on All Classical 89.9 (Sunday Morning with Ed Goldberg, Sundays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.) he reviews films and does author interviews and political commentary on another Portland radio station.

Andrea Murray
On-Air Host, Community Relations Coordinator & NW Previews Producer
andreamurray@allclassical.org

Andrea’s been producing and hosting public radio programming for over 15 years. She began working in radio as host of a community radio public affairs program, then began announcing classical music in St. Louis. She also worked in the newsroom, where she specialized in cultural reporting. Prior to joining the All Classical staff, she spent 6 years as the arts reporter for WETA in Washington, where she produced and hosted a cultural magazine called “The Program” , and substituted for regular classical music hosts. She’s also done freelance work for several NPR magazine programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Studio 360.

Brandi Parisi
On-Air Host
brandi@allclassical.org

Brandi is a New Orleans native who was most recently the afternoon drive host at K-Mozart in Los Angeles. She has been a reporter, producer and host at stations in Atlanta and Orlando, was nationally syndicated on Minnesota Public Radio’s Classical 24 for 6 years. She has produced and hosted many programs for Public Radio International, and the MPR broadcasts of the Minnesota Opera.

Brandi is a trained flutist and silversmith, and she teaches yoga at several places around Portland. She has degrees from Ohio University and Purdue, and is an adjunct instructor of philosophy at Portland Community College.

Larry Holtz
Vice President of Engineering
larry@allclassical.org

Larry, now in his 6th year with KBPS, strives to fine tune and improve our equipment to deliver classical music with the best quality possible. Larry is involved with our advanced signal expansion and digitization projects, most recently upgrading KBPS to HD digital radio with improved reach. With 35 years as engineering director for commercial groups in the Northwest, he consolidated Entercom's seven radio stations into one studio building in Portland. During the 90s he built Portland’s West Hills multi-station KGON super tower and orchestrated new studios and transmission facilities around the country.

Jordan Lewis
Operations Administrator
jordan@allclassical.org

An Oregon native and graduate of Grant High School, Jordan Lewis studied computer engineering at OIT and radio broadcasting at MHCC to bring multiple job skills to the Operations Administrator position. In charge of preparing all of the satellite feeds for re-broadcast, scheduling the on-air host's shifts and scheduling/reconciling the traffic logs, Jordan keeps busy by wearing many hats. From weekly show production to the in-house IT duties to assisting the Chief Engineer in repairs and installing upgrades the job is a great blend of radio and computers.

Jordan previously worked for KEX and KFXX in Portland, followed by a stint as a remote engineer for KATU-TV News. Jordan's five years running his own business as a computer repairman gave him the kind of skills necessary to keep the many computers that run a modern radio station working smoothly.

For recreation Jordan is an avid disc golfer, traveling the Northwest to compete in amateur competitions. Most weekends he can be found on one or another of the area’s great disc golf courses. When not throwing plastic through the air he is a collector of comic books, a reader of sci fi/fantasy and a rabid NFL football fan — Go Redskins!

Eric Behny
Director of Underwriting
eric@allclassical.org

Eric grew up in a small farm town in Illinois listening to classical music. He remembers hearing Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Mikado” played so often he thinks he may have it memorized. Eric graduated from California State University at Northridge with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing. After college, he worked as an advertising consultant at the NBC television affiliates in Bend, Oregon, Salinas, California, and for FOX-12 KPTV in Portland. Eric lives in Northeast Portland with his wife, 3 children, dog and cat. He enjoys exercise, music, reading, travel and low-budget horror movies.

Regina Veillet
Underwriting Sales Associate
regina@allclassical.org

Regina has spent her life in the worlds of sales and music. When she was five she sold her pastor on the idea of letting her sing a solo for the church. Whether the congregation enjoyed it or not, she knew she had found her passion in music. This eventually led to a music scholarship to Lee University in Tennessee where she graduated with a degree in business. After college she worked in sales at American Airlines and AT&T Wireless before beginning her family. She credits Denyce Graves’ appearances on Sesame Street with sparking her interest in Opera. Some years later Regina returned to school to study music and opera at Portland State University. She has performed at the Astoria Music Festival and the Portland Rose Festival opening ceremonies to name a few, and continues to perform wherever a willing audience can be found. Her two worlds of music and sales are now wonderfully united at KBPS. Regina lives with her husband and two children.