WAMC Program Guide December 2012 - Volume 18 Issue 12 Holiday specials abound! See Programming notes Meet the Team, Part 1 December Programming Notes Alan S. Chartock Katie Britton WAMC President and C.E.O. Director of WAMC News/Programming One of the best things about being at WAMC is Ahoy, WAMC land! ‘Tis the season of dreidels, getting to know the characters who work here. When tinsel and TV ads that wish a ‘sparkly day’. So we you look at what kind of people they are, the want to give you our own shiny star with some families they come from, and the talents each of great programming during the holiday season. them brings to the table, you can garner an appreciation for the parts that make the whole. It all kicks off on Monday December 9th at 7PM with the perennial favorite, Hanukkah Lights 2012, It occurs to me that the people who work at the which features Hanukkah stories and memoirs station are really no different than the people who written by acclaimed authors expressly for the listen to the station. We may each have our show, as read by NPR's Susan Stamberg and individual eccentricities but then again, who Murray Horwitz. Then we’ll continue to celebrate doesn’t? For example, just take a look at the guy the Festival of Lights on Tuesday at 11AM with who edits this newsletter, Ray Graf. I have to tell Chanukah in Story and Song. This hour-long you, you can’t help but love the guy. We call him Chanukah special is a celebration by The Western “Uncle Grumpy” but when he comes to meetings he Wind performing Ladino songs of Spanish Jews, can be so funny that you want to fall down laughing. Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe and modern During the fund drive he has become an iron man, Israeli tunes, and is hosted by Leonard Nimoy. holding things together and always picking up our spirits when it looks like things might not be going On Friday December 21st, we’ll have the annual so well. airing of A Paul Winter Solstice Concert from 10AM until 12PM. Once again on the darkest During the last drive when I was nervous because night of the year, NPR Music presents the illuminating tradition from New York's Cathedral Continued on page 2 of St. John the Divine: the 32nd annual Paul Winter Solstice Celebration, featuring gospel singer Theresa Thomason, Mbira Master Chris I N S I D E T H I S I SSUE Berry and The Paul Winter Consort with Paul McCandless, Eugene Friesen, Paul Sullivan, Eliot 2 Underwriter Spotlight Wadopian, Jamey Haddad, Tim Brumfield and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. 4 WAMC Program Schedule at a Glance 5 Program Descriptions / Times Then it’s time to break out the eggnog and crazy Christmas sweaters as we bring your some of our 9 BSO Classical New England broadcast listings holiday favorites, as well as some new shows. On December 24th at 9AM we’re kicking off the party 21 Metropolitan Opera broadcast schedule with holiday music from the 1950’s. Though 1950 continued on page 3 WAMC Program Guide 1 Chartock continued from page 1 things weren’t going even faster he kept looking at really stuck it to the man when he deserved me and allowing as how we were bringing in an it. There came a time when Selma had to incredible one hundred thousand dollars a day. decide whether to become a full-time Maybe he gets that from encouraging his son, musician or make a career at WAMC. Am Raymond Jr., in his sports activities or his I ever glad that she made the right decision. trombone playing (Ray Senior is a superb musician and a great trombone player.) When Raymond Jr. Those are just two of the people who make hits yet another home run in his Little League us what we are. In the coming months, I’ll career, we all know about it. But winning isn’t try to give you the inside straight on others everything to our Ray. He adopts losing causes who help make the place what it is. – Alan like the New York Mets. His relationship with the Metropolitans can be described as nothing less Editor’s note: Grumpy? Moi? than love/hate. Every morning after the Metsies lose yet another game, he comes into the news room and takes an awful ribbing from people like David Guistina who loves the Red Sox and Ian Underwriter Spotlight Pickus who loves the imperialistic Yankees. Ray sits in his corner mumbling thing like, “Why, I Capital Region Chapter of the National oughta….” It is Ray who, along with Thom Job, Guild of Hypnotists - Creating awareness works on our wamc.org web page that keeps of hypnosis services available in the getting better and better and Ray who does such a Capital Region of New York. To provide a directory of area hypnotist members and great job when he moderates Vox Pop. resources, education for area hypnotists. www.crcngh.com Ray met his wife Nicole right here at WAMC when Nicole was running the fund drives and now, five children later, this wonderful family is Dreyer Boyajian LLP - A full service law representative of the great people who make firm headquartered in Albany, New York. WAMC what it is. We argue about everything Our team of experienced attorneys practice under the sun but in the end we love each other in a variety of areas in both New York and and whatever friction there is only serves to make Western Massachusetts. us better. www.dreyerboyajian.com Another secret weapon at WAMC is our senior Reed & Vella, located at 203 Delaware vice president, Selma Kaplan. She started out part- Ave, Delmar, New York - Margaret Z time after the fund drives, putting things in Reed ("Meg") and Margaret A. Vella alphabetical order and was soon hired to be the ("Margie") concentrate their practice on receptionist. One day she noticed that I was estate planning, estate and trust frazzled and asked if there was anything she could administrations, elder law issues including do to help. planning for long term care, asset protection and guardianship matters and “Yeah,” I said, “you can write this grant for me.” residential res estate matters. She did and as I recall, that was her last day as www.reedandvellalaw.com receptionist. Now she is at the top of the heap and rules her kingdom with wisdom and generosity. Find out more… Selma is a very talented musician. She used to be www.wamc.org/topic/spotlight-wamc- in a band called “Rude Girls,” a group of women underwriters who were not only great musicians and writers but WAMC Program Guide 2 Programming notes continued from page 1 was the stomping ground for Rudolph and Frosty, host Eve/Night, as well as Live from Vienna! the following Mike Flanagan gives us an audio tour of how morning. underneath the marshmallow world of perfect conformity was another take on holiday cheer that So keep those radios on, break out the Manischewitz involved rock n’ roll, space travel, and my baby left and Spiced Rum, and sit back and enjoy. me blues. Until next month my friends, From there we jump to the classical melodies from A Katie Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, hosted by Michael Barone. From 10AM to 12PM, this WAMC-FM broadcasts 365 days a year to eastern New is a live stereo music and spoken-word broadcast from York and western New England on 90.3 MHz. Our the chapel of King's College in Cambridge, England. studios and offices are in Albany, NY. The 30-voice King's College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service The WAMC transmitter is located atop Mount Greylock of Biblical readings and music. in Adams, MA. The WAMC-AM transmitter is located in Albany, NY. WAMK’s transmitter is located on On Christmas day we’ll continue with tradition, and Overlook Mountain, Woodstock, NY. after Morning Edition at 9AM, we’ll Welcome Technical updates about our transmitters can be found at Christmas! This year's program puts the focus on old www.wamc.org/engineering.html French carols, alongside two world premieres in the annual VocalEssence/American Composers Forum WAMC transmits on these frequencies: Christmas carol contest. WAMC-FM 90.3 - Albany, NY WCAN-FM 93.3 - Canajoharie, NY At 10AM we’ll hear the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, a WAMQ-FM 105.1 - Great Barrington, MA service in song and word that has become one of the WAMK-FM 90.9 - Kingston, NY nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. The WOSR-FM 91.7 - Middletown, NY festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, and WWES-FM 88.9 – Mount Kisco, NY orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and WCEL-FM 91.9 - Plattsburgh, NY WRUN-FM 90.3 - Remsen, NY featuring more than 500 student musicians who are WANZ 90.1 FM - Stamford, NY members of five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra. WANC-FM 103.9 - Ticonderoga, NY WAMC-AM 1400 - Albany, NY And at 11AM we’ll celebrate Christmas with W204CJ, 88.7 - Lake Placid, NY Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs. One of the great W215BG, 90.9 - Milford PA holiday traditions in America, the choirs of Morehouse W226AC 93.1 - Rensselaer-Troy, NY and Spelman Colleges get together to present a spine- W243BZ, 96.5 - Ellenville NY tingling concert program. W246BJ 97.1 - Hudson, NY W247BM, 97.3 – Cooperstown, NY We’ll get a little raucous with All Songs W257BL, 99.3 - Oneonta NY W271BF, 102.1 - Highland NY Considered for the Holidays at noon.