Tuning in with Amanda Sewell

We at Interlochen Public Radio are preparing for the real possibility of losing our federal funding.

“Personally, I cringe whenever I hear [music] recorded at Interlochen. Lesser music less well presented is not my favorite!”

Composers respond to the events of their lives, and those events are all shaped by politics. How can music operate free of political influence?

Classical IPR wants to hear from you as we make plans for the next chapter in our programming for children and families. Please take our survey.

There are such different ways classical music audiences can show their appreciation for the music - perhaps silently, perhaps by clapping. What happens, though, when concert attendance ends up being about "the rules"?

Classical IPR has spent years focusing on how to be local.

Ted Beiderwieden volunteered at IPR hundreds of hours every year, earning Interlochen's Volunteer of the Year Award in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He recently passed away at the age of 87.

How does a long-running show like Music by Request stay interesting and relevant to its current audiences while continuing to grow new audiences? Do we change the program to try to freshen it up, or do we decide the program has run its course and replace it?

Is it ever okay for a radio station to censor content?

IPR's Sound Garden Project musicians approached people at gas stations, golf courses, laundromats and grocery stores, playing music for them and asking for their opinions.