Those who live in New York know that there are two mainstream radio stations here that regularly program classical music. Without a doubt, WNYC, the local NPR affiliate, is by far the more adventurous – and vital – of the two. Just take a gander at the first hour of tonight’s Evening Music with Marcia Young:
- Jonny Greenwood, Excerpt from There Will Be Blood
- Marc Mellits, Dark Age Machinery
- Steve Reich, Electric Counterpoint
- Thomas Ades, Traced Overhead
- Olivier Messiaen, L’Ascension
Throw in a John Rockwell audio essay about contemporary sound installations, including those of Max Neuhaus, Bill Fontana, and Brian Eno, and you’ve got one interesting hour of music. And this was in primetime, not marooned in the middle of the night like some other station might do.
Postcript: Topping it off, James David Jacobs has just kicked an all-night Charles Ives marathon, "in celebration of Super Tuesday." Well, okay.