Classical Music Lovers

Up in Arms in Central Vt.

By M. D. Drysdale

On Monday of this week, Vermont Public Radio rolled out its big program reorganization. News and public affairs programming will expand greatly, and classical music will also be expanded and be given its own special radio station.

Sounds great all around. So why are so many people complaining so bitterly?

Because of one big problem: The new classical music station cannot be received in more than half of the state.

Lovers of classical music have long been a bulwark of public radio in Vermont, offering enthusiastic support and substantial cash donations. Now, to judge from letters and conversations, many of them feel betrayed that the music they’ve relied upon VPR to provide for 30 years has suddenly gone missing from their radio.

"Two years ago when they announced the changes, I called and told them it was a bad idea," said Ann Brandon, director of the Randolph Senior Center. She and her husband Carl are longtime sponsors of "Saturday Afternoon at the Opera," and she said she’ll be making another call to VPR studios, now that the change has come about.

During the 30 years since it was founded, VPR has become the major radio powerhouse of Vermont, with frequencies and signals originating from five towers and four low-power translators that cover the state in a way no other radio station comes close to.

The new classical music station, however, is broadcast from just three towers on three frequencies—one in Burlington, one in Norwich and one in Manchester. Coverage from those three places leaves huge gaps throughout the state—including Randolph and most of the White River Valley.

Also uncovered are Montpelier/Barre and Rutland, the third biggest city in the state, as well as St. Johnsbury and the rest of the northeast and north-central part of the state.

VPR says its classical signal reaches two-thirds of the Vermont population, however, because Chittenden County is covered.

Change Defended

VPR’s president and general manager, Mark Vogelzang, stoutly defends the programming change as necessary for the station’s long-term viability. Public radio stations in most states, he said, are dropping their classical programming outright, in favor of more news and more talk.

New Hampshire public radio, for instance, no longer provides any classical music programming.

"It has been clear for 10 years that there’s more of a demand for news and information programming than for classical," he insisted. "More people listen to it, and we get more support for it. It’s hands down. Night and day.

"We definitely have to make a change. If we stay with what we’re doing, we’ll become marginalized."

Though there may be complaints about the changes, he declared, "there will be a lot of people who will be happy."

Further, he pointed out, there will still be a lot of music on the regular VPR frequencies, especially on the weekends—just not classical music. Popular shows like "My Place" and "All the Traditions" will continue, along with new music programs like "American Routes." The weekday program will include two hours of jazz each evening.

Apprehension

Vogelzang himself is a lover of classical music—he hosts an all-Bach program for an hour each Sunday morning. He admitted to feeling apprehension last week as he visited Central Vermont for a Herald interview, knowing he has a lot of critics of the programming change here.

There was a special irony Saturday evening as Vogelzang attended a taping of the National Public Radio classical show "From the Top" at Chandler Music Hall. The show will no longer be able to be received by regular radios in the whole Central Vermont area.

(Vogelzang did promise that this particular Chandler-originated show will get a special place on the regular VPR frequencies when it is aired later in the year.)

He explained that filling the "holes" in the classical station coverage will not be easy, because frequencies in the desired locations do not become available often. There will be one opportunity this fall, and the station will try to acquire frequencies in Montpelier and Island Pond. Randolph coverage, however, may be years down the road, he acknowleged.

New Technologies

Vogelzang said the change was made at this point in time partly because of the availability of a new radio technology, called HD radio (not to be confused with high definition TV).

HD radios will be able to pick up the regular VPR signal and divide it into three channels—the regular one, the classical one, and an all-BBC channel.

The radios, he said, cost from $150 to $300 or $400. Admittedly, however, they are not easily available, as stores like Best Buy don’t carry them, although Radio Shack does.

"It sounds fabulous," he claimed.

People will also be able to get the classical station via streaming audio on their computers, he said.

The VPR president hopes the station will get credit from classical music lovers for continuing to make their music available, and devoting more resources to it—including hiring two new broadcasters—rather than ditching it altogether as many stations have done.

He hopes the availability problem can be solved.

"I want people to be able to hear ‘Sunday Bach,’" he said.