KUHF 88.7 FM

March 2001
This March, we mark the 15th anniversary of KUHF-FM's format of classical music and public radio news. These 15 years have been a period of stability and growth for KUHF-FM, which today stands tall as one of the few remaining, locally owned-and-operated, major radio stations in the Houston market. Our deep roots in this community bear remarkable fruit, including a full-time, professional local news department second to none and ongoing partnerships with Houston's major performing arts organizations.

Think about it. The willingness of tens of thousands of Houstonians to vote with their checkbooks for a breathtaking total of more than $8.5 million over the past 15 years of membership campaigns is eloquent testimony to that magnificent enterprise we call Public Radio.

All this is, of course, a roundabout way of pointing out that March is also the month of the spring membership campaign - the first KUHF-FM fundraiser of 2001. This is also the first campaign during which you, the listener/member, will determine the number of days spent raising money on-air. The goal is $500,000, and if we make that amount in three days, or whenever, the campaign is over and it's back to regular programming. You decide. Call early; pledge generously; tell your friends and neighbors to do their part.

The ongoing operation of public radio in Houston is a commitment that over 15,000 of you take very seriously. As I think we have demonstrated over the past 15 years, KUHF-FM merits your support. Your money goes to work immediately to help acquire, produce and air quality public radio programs. In this very concrete sense, your pledge is an investment that comes back to you 365 days each year.

And those of you who cherish the flagship programs from National Public Radio, Morning Edition and All Things Considered, should remember that NPR depends on stations like KUHF-FM for the majority of its income.

And don't forget that all new and renewing members - at all levels - will receive the KUHF Classic Card. Check the KUHF website at www.kuhf.org for updates and information on current Classic Card discounts, or see pages 26-30.

I would also like to draw your attention to a musical event that promises to be one of the highlights of the spring concert season, the world premiere of The Mystic Flame, a choral symphony by Houston composer Michael Horvit. Performances are March 3-4 in the splendid acoustics of the Moores Opera House and feature the soloists, choirs and symphony orchestra of the Moores School, Franz Anton Krager conducting.

The Mystic Flame traces the Jewish experience in the 20th century through the words of some of the century's most influential writers, including David Ben-Gurion; Martin Luther King, Jr; Jean-Paul Sartre; Albert Einstein; Anne Frank; King Hussein; Martin Niemšller, and the like. Advance tickets may be purchased by calling 713.743.3313.

Houston Symphony broadcasts this month continue with a performance of Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1, with guest conductor Jahja Ling, and the Gliere Horn Concerto, with HSO principal horn William Ver Meulen as soloist (6); the Houston Symphony Chamber Players performing works by Piston, Poulenc and Saint-Saens (13); Glazunov's spectacular Violin Concerto, with guest soloist Midori (20); and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, with resident conductor Mariusz Smolij and Mayumi Sekizawa as soloist in the Rosauro Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra (27). Houston Symphony broadcasts are Tuesday evenings at 9:00, hosted by Dean Dalton and generously underwritten by our friends at Compass Bank.

We join forces with Channel 8 for a Metropolitan Opera simulcast of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, with James Levine conducting a stellar cast, including Ben Heppner and Jane Eaglen as the eponymous lovers. The show begins at 7:00 p.m. on March 21, with the picture provided by Channel 8 and the stereo sound by KUHF-FM.

The following Wednesday evening at 7:00, it's a Live from Lincoln Center simulcast of the New York City Opera production of Puccini's La Boheme.

The month of March is remarkably rich in composer's birth anniversaries we celebrate. This fabulous list includes Frederic Chopin (1), Bedrich Smetana and Kurt Weill (2), Antonio Vivaldi (4), Maurice Ravel (7), C. P. E. Bach and Alan Hovhaness (8), Samuel Barber (9), Georg Philipp Telemann (14), Nicolai Rimsky-Koraskov (18), Max Reger (19), Johann Sebastian Bach and Modest Mussorgsky (21), Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber (22), Bela Bartok (25), William Walton (29) and Joseph Haydn (31).

Good listening to all; and thanks in advance for your generous membership support!