XLNC’s departure from radio a big loss for San Diego

By David Amos

 

SAN DIEGO — XLNC, San Diego’s only classical radio station for many years, stopped operating on the air waves, as of the beginning of March. The station continues to transmit music on line at www.xlnc1.org 

This was the source for many of us to hear a good variety of classical music in the car or at home or offices. In spite of deviations from classical music, which annoyed many of us, the station was a source of comfort; it provided a sense of balance, familiarity, and tranquility, sometimes for hours during the day and late at night.

But, for whatever reason (probably due to cut costs in order to reduce losses) the station’s frequency, FM 104.9, is now transmitting popular Latin music, which is fine for some audiences, but not for us the classicists. 

I was involved with XLNC for many years, suggesting classical repertory, correcting announcing errors, working with some of the novice announcers on the right way to pronounce the names of composers and their works, and spending quite a bit of time on the air, co-hosting their radiothons to raise money to run the station. I established close friendships with the staff, volunteers, the other talented radio co-hosts, and the program director.

Campaign weeks were a  tumultuous schedule of raising funds, dealing with the loyal volunteers who manned and womanned the phones, eating catered food in a frenzy, to get back to the live microphones, and my favorite part, which was introducing to the listening public some of my choice works, explaining who the composer was, and what to listen for in what was to be played next.

An offshoot of this, was my other passion, humor. There are ways of conveying to others valuable information about the music in a lighthearted way, (no matter how serious the music might be) while having a good time doing it. I use this method frequently during my live lectures on music and musicians.

The past overwhelming benefits of radio classical music has been taken away from us, and its sudden disappearance has affected many. In my orchestra rehearsals and other social gatherings, I have been constantly approached by people who either complain to me as if there is something I could do, or ask for advice about other sources of classical music on radio.

There are no simple answers here, but here are a few ideas:

A)      Try to tune in to KUSC, FM 91.5. It transmits from Los Angeles, and in most of San Diego’s hilly terrain, it cuts in and out in a most annoying way.  You can get KUSC in the Cox Cable package, with a host of other music choices, but that is only for the home. When I occasionally drive to Los Angeles, this is the station to which I tune in. It is picked up fairly well from North San Diego County, as you go northward. Keep in mind that KUSC is one of the finest classical stations in the country, with superb variety and a most knowledgeable staff of programmers and announcers.

B)      Get involved with the satellite service of Sirius-XM Radio. It costs a bit for a yearly subscription, but their musical choices and announcers are first rate. The down-side, is that you pay a subscription fee, and you need to buy and install some hardware into your car (in new cars, it may come built-in). The reception quality is superb, and you can keep listening to the station as you cruise anywhere in the U.S.

C)      Try to think of someone in San Diego with the means, to buy a frequency from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), install a radio station with an antenna which will reach all of us, acquire a good and ample selection of music choices (many of us would gladly volunteer to help make these choices), hire an intelligent staff and station manager, and become the radio beacon for the arts in San Diego, promoting the Symphony, Opera, chamber music, visiting artists, art exhibitions, and the vast choices of artistic happenings in our area. As examples, we have KUSC, as mentioned above, and Seattle’s KING Radio. This would be a real contribution to the arts in our area.

D)      Another option, is to have KUSC install a repeater station in our area. In this manner, we would receive the same signal emanating from Los Angeles, only robust and clear. KUSC is already doing this in other Southern California areas quite successfully. This is a practical option which I really like.

For many of us good music during the day and evening is not only “a nice thing to have,” but a necessary part of life, as it helps us to balance the many pressures we all have. As Heinrich Heine said, “Where words leave off music begins.”

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Amos is the conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and has guest conducted professional orchestras around the world. He may be contacted via david.amos@sdjewishworld.com