All Classical Radio’s beloved Happy Hour is back with a special holiday edition. Join your hosts, Warren Black and Christa Wessel, on Friday, December 15, 2023, at 5:00 PM PT for festive tunes, a sneak peek of what’s ahead for the holiday season, and all the puns you can Handel…! It’s classical music… with a holiday twist!
Enjoy unique interpretations of old favorites, new music, a twin-spin or two, plus previews of what’s coming up on All Classical Portland’s holiday programming. It’s the perfect recipe for a happy hour, and you’re invited!
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS
Warren Black
When I visited Portland for the first time, I decided that I wanted to live here. It would take about 15 years before I pulled it off. It’s a similar story with radio: I hosted a four-hour classical show during my freshman year of college, but many years would pass before I joined the staff of KCUR (the NPR affiliate in Kansas City) as an announcer and producer.
During those two overlapping intervals, I worked as a writer, editor, actor and voice-over artist in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Seattle. The one unifying theme in all that time and throughout my life has been music: participating in it as a singer, writing about it, or appreciating it from the audience.
The world can be a mixed-up place. But with persistence and luck you can arrive where you’re supposed to be, doing work that you love.
Warren is the morning host weekdays from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM PT and provides production assistance to The Score.
Christa Wessel
As a kid, I learned to play French horn and immediately fell head-over-heels in love with classical music. That passion eventually took me to Northwestern University where I graduated with a degree in Arts Administration.
My career in radio was an unplanned, happy accident. The first time I found myself behind a microphone I knew that I had found my dream job. I find such joy in sharing my enthusiasm for music! I worked as a radio host at the classical station in Raleigh, NC for nearly a decade before joining the team at All Classical Portland in 2007. In my free time I enjoy stormy weekends at the coast and escaping into big juicy novels.
Christa is the late afternoon host, on the air weekdays from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM PT, as well as host and producer of On Deck with Young Musicians and Thursdays @ Three.
Photos by Christine Dong
