Note: a version of this piece originally appeared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle as part of the "Tuning In" series.
When you hear us say that Classical IPR is listener-supported, you probably think we mean that our listeners support us financially.
That’s absolutely true - the vast majority of IPR’s revenue comes from listener support, and that amount of listener support has increased significantly since our federal funding was eliminated earlier this year.
But Classical IPR’s content is also listener-supported, because listeners help create our music playlists, our seasonal concert guides and our local programs.
Our weekend program Music by Request has been a staple of Classical IPR’s programming for decades. Each week, listeners choose the music and create the entire program. Lately, we’ve been encouraging listeners to tell us why they made their choice so we can share that information in the program too.
Our new program Intermezzo for children and families airs daily at 7:30 a.m. and also is available as a podcast. Each week includes the voices of young listeners and young musicians asking and answering important questions about how classical music works and what it means.
Throughout October, we’ve been sharing voices of Classical IPR listeners telling us what they love about the fall season. We’re planning something similar for listeners' favorite Christmas carols (but not until after Thanksgiving, we promise).
We are also inviting IPR listeners to record a salute to a veteran in their life and will be broadcasting those salutes all day this November 11 in celebration of Veterans Day. (Details about how to record your own salute are at the end of this article) We will also be playing music all day featuring American military bands and themes about Veterans Day.
It’s important to us to include our listeners in the creation of our content because it’s a reciprocal relationship. Classical IPR’s listeners not only provide financial support but also attend IPR events, send us programming ideas, share their stories about what Classical IPR means to them, and help create a community around classical music in our region.
I suppose we could stay in our broadcast studio, never talking to anyone in our community, and only play the music that we think people should hear and only talk about topics that we think people should know about classical music.
But if we didn’t consider the public in our programming, then that wouldn’t be public radio, would it?
And we go beyond just “considering” the public because we invite you in and want you to participate. We want to hear from you, whether it’s playing your requested classical music on weekends during Music by Request or sharing your voice talking about a veteran in your life.
To record a salute for a veteran, visit https://www.speakpipe.com/salute
These salutes will be aired on Classical IPR throughout the day on Tuesday, November 11.
