Category Archives: All Classical Radio
Piano. Push. Play. transforms Portland with music, art, and a bit of magic
The piano on the sidewalk doesn’t make any attempt to blend in with the bustling city surroundings. Its bright pink exterior bristles with wild fur that surpasses many of the hip and trending hairstyles in both eccentricity and brilliance of color. Above its dense mane bobbles a cluster of orbs resembling eyeballs and from underneath …
A Darwinian Take on Musicology
Evolution. It’s not just about Darwin’s finches and paleontology. Music history can be considered an evolutionary study of sorts: a tracing of where, when, why, and how music was played, written, discussed, or heard, and who was involved in the process. We can study these changes of musical sound over time by examining one branch of …
A Parade of Music and Support Mark My First Week at All Classical
During my first week at All Classical Portland, I was able to experience multiple aspects of how the station functions, especially during one of its major fundraisers. Putting faces to the voices I heard during many late nights of studying was a great way to start off my summer at the station. Sitting in while …
Crystal Records: 49 years of music in our midst
I recently interviewed Peter Christ, founder of Crystal Records, based north of Camas, WA. With him, Oregon Symphony’s Principal Horn, John Cox, who has participated in two recent recordings. Mr. Christ founded Crystal in Los Angeles in 1966, at a time when instrumental music, of the sort that Peter enjoyed, wasn’t covered much by the …
Thoughts on Cuba
Our trip to Cuba with Earthbound Expeditions was a success. The only complaint that I heard was that we were overfed. I have heard worse. Of course, Cuba is not like Puerto Rico or St. Martin, or any other island in the Caribbean. It is fraught, as much a symbol as a place. Our history …
New Scenery, New Sounds
It’s the first day of July, and the ninth day of our residence in Suite 200 of the Hampton Opera Center. If you’ve visited the All Classical Portland Facebook page recently, then you’ve no doubt seen some of the photos and video that I’ve posted as we packed up equipment, documents and 25,000 Cds, and …
Get To Know The Hosts: Christa Wessel
As All Classical Portland’s mid-morning host, Christa Wessel has brightened up the workdays of many listeners with her distinctively bubbly voice. When she’s not on air, she can usually be found interviewing local artists for Northwest Previews, or busy with production for On Deck with Young Musicians. Christa talks about how she got into …
Get To Know The Hosts: Andrea Murray
If you stay up all night listening to All Classical Portland, you might be familiar with the voice of Andrea Murray, who hosts the coveted 12 to 5 am slot. During the day, Andrea can usually be found sitting at her desk wearing big headphones, busy with production for The Score and editing interviews with local …
Get To Know The Hosts: John Pitman
John Pitman has been working at All Classical Portland since 1983, back when the station was little more than a small FM booth inside a converted classroom. After taking a radio station class at Benson Polytechnic and working part-time at the AM station, John realized that radio was what he wanted to do in life. …
Lutosławski at 100
As the Bard Festival in New York concluded over the weekend, we are reminded again of the importance and multifariousness of its subject this year, Igor Stravinsky. As his iconic Rite of Spring turned 100 this year, the classical music world, Portland not excepted, has examined the eminent composer’s oeuvre once again. The Oregon Symphony …
