Farewell 2024: A (Musical) Review of WDAV’s Wonderful Year
December 20, 2024
Can you believe another year has come and gone? In just a few days, we’ll be ringing in the New Year with excitement for what 2025 has in store. But first, we have to say thank you to our classical community for your support over the last twelve months – and take a look back at what you’ve helped us to accomplish.
In addition to enjoying countless hours of classical music on 89.9 WDAV, you tuned in for 4 Charlotte Symphony live broadcasts, listened to 38 Piedmont Arts podcast episodes, watched 13 Musical Mind Games live streams, answered 267 Tuesday Trivia questions, and read 37 blog articles. You attended our record sales, concerts, film screenings, and other joyful community events. You celebrated with us when we were selected for the Public Media Digital Transformation Program and when NoteWorthy became a nationally syndicated program on PRX.
But most importantly, your support has furthered our mission to build community through classical music in more ways than we could possibly list! If you want to show your love for Your Classical Companion before the year ends, there’s still plenty of time. Make an end-of-year gift here that will pave the way for a transformative 2025.
February
A Momentous Year of Charlotte Symphony Live Broadcasts
We are often reminded how privileged we are to have outstanding classical music organizations like the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra nearby, and never more so than during a CSO live broadcast! We’ve transported four spine-tingling programs from the Belk Theater to your home this year, beginning with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on February 3. Our listeners were also treated to a journey into the heavens on May 18 with a program featuring Holst’s celestial masterwork The Planets.
This has been a truly historic year for the Charlotte Symphony, who announced last December that Kwamé Ryan would take the helm as Music Director during the 2024-2025 season. Ryan was featured in two programs broadcast live on WDAV in 2024, including his first concerts at the podium as Music Director Designate (Tchaikovsky & Brahms on April 6) and Music Director (Brahms’ A German Requiem on November 23). You can revisit the electrifying magic of the latter program on demand at our website now until December 22!
April
WDAV Gets a New Transmitter
After two years of using a thirty-year-old analog transmitter as a backup after our previous one was damaged by lightning, we installed a brand new, state-of-the-art transmitter on April 17! This marked the return of artist and title information on many radio types and stronger, more robust signals overall. Learn more about the new transmitter here.
An Invigorating Tour of Bach’s Germany with Alan Black
It was a great pleasure to spend time with so many friends of WDAV on our Cellomania! Tour in April 2024. WDAV’s Rachel Stewart, CSO Principal Cello Emeritus Alan Black, and Julliard-trained cellist Grace Lin Anderson led a ten-day tour of J.S. Bach’s Germany featuring performances of Bach’s complete cello suites, in-depth visits to major sites in Weimar and Leipzig, and plenty of behind-the-scenes glimpses at Bach’s life and career.
May
WDAV’s RII Recordings Are Released into a National Database
WDAV is proud to be among the first classical radio stations in the country to commit to the Recording Inclusivity Initiative! Last year, a panel of community leaders selected three works by composers from underrepresented communities to be professionally recorded and broadcast by WDAV.
In May of 2024, we announced that the completed recordings had been released into a nationwide database, making them available for broadcast to classical radio stations across the country. We celebrated this momentous accomplishment on May 23 with a free community event at The Long Room in Plaza Midwood featuring live performances of all three selected works, plus engaging documentary footage capturing the recording process. Watch a mini-documentary on WDAV’s RII project here.
August
Musical Mind Games Launches on YouTube
Host Christen Crumpler has combined her passions for classical music and video gaming in an innovative new live streaming project, Musical Mind Games, which launched August 27 on WDAV’s YouTube page! Each stream, Christen dives into a video game’s musical world with takes on the game’s audiovisual experience, connections to classical music, game playthroughs, and much more. A full lineup of MMG streams are now available to view on demand for your holiday viewing pleasure! Sign up to learn more about Musical Mind Games here.
October
WDAV and Cine Casual Present a Screening of Los Hermanos
Back in October, we jumped at the chance to join forces with Cine Casual for a special outdoor screening of the award-winning documentary Los Hermanos on the Davidson Town Green. The film follows Cuban classical musician brothers Ilmar Gavilán (of Harlem Quartet fame) and Aldo López-Gavilán, long separated by estranged nations, as they work to perform together for the first time. Imagine our delight when we found out Ilmar could fly in from New York to join us in person!
Ilmar kicked off the evening with a poignant pre-screening chat and solo performance, with supporting live music from the Charlotte Strings Collective and classical guitarist Sal Contrino. Partnering with Cine Casual was one of the high points of our year, and the result was a deeply meaningful evening for classical music lovers and cinema fans alike. Take a look back at the event with this excellent City of Charlotte video coverage of Cine Casual’s new Cine en los Barrios initiative.
WDAV is Selected for the Public Media Digital Transformation Program
Earlier this year, we were delighted to share that WDAV is among 50 public media stations selected nationwide to participate in the Digital Transformation Program delivered by the Poynter Institute and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This virtual program was developed to educate, assist, and coach public media senior leaders and their staff on the best strategies and tactics to transform their organization’s digital operations and culture. We are deeply honored to have been selected and excited for the opportunity to learn how to better serve our classical community!
November
The Small Batch Concert Series Returns
Cheers! After a four-year hiatus, the return of our Small Batch Concert Series at Free Range Brewing has brought us a great deal of joy in 2024. Small Batch is among our most cherished opportunities to spend time with our listeners, and we’ve missed it tremendously! The combination of beautiful music, great libations, and a welcoming space filled with your cheerful faces is pure magic, each and every time.
The season opener on Friday, November 15 featured harpist Andrea Mumm and flutist Erinn Frechette, who treated a packed taproom to an engaging, imaginative evening of chamber music. Mark your calendars now for the next Small Batch concert on Thursday, February 13 – tickets will be available in the New Year.
NoteWorthy Makes its PRX Debut
Over the past calendar year, we’ve introduced you to NoteWorthy stories, a new series of audio shorts that shines a light on artists of color, women, and others from historically underrepresented groups. NoteWorthy became available on PRX in November, joining the ranks of other nationally syndicated WDAV original productions like Concierto and Reel Music! Classical stations will now be able to share NoteWorthy as part of their daily programming to audiences across the country. Learn more about NoteWorthy stories here, and sign up for our NoteWorthy newsletter to receive weekly episode updates.
December
Festive Fun! Lessons & Carols Live Broadcast and WDAV’s Holiday Open House
We closed out 2024 in the merriest way: spending quality time with our classical community as we celebrated two beloved WDAV traditions! On Tuesday, December 3, we shared a tranquil evening with friends joining us in person and over the airwaves at WDAV’s Charlotte Lessons & Carols from St. John’s. Conductor Phil Biedenbender led the Charlotte Master Chorale Chamber Singers in a program of cherished carols with readers from WDAV’s own Community Advisory Board, Khary Brown and Banu Valladares, and the Rev. Dr. Dennis Foust of St. John’s. Listen to this year’s Lessons & Carols broadcast on demand here, and catch rebroadcasts on WDAV Saturday, December 21 at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, December 25 at 1 p.m.
The following Friday, we decked our halls for Mirth & Melody, WDAV’s annual holiday open house. The evening was filled with festive music from Davidson College a cappella group The Nuances, string quartets from the Cornelius Youth Orchestras and Davidson College, and ragtime pianist Ethan Uslan. We are so thankful for these wonderful musicians, and for all of you who came out to celebrate the holiday season with us!
Happy Holidays from the WDAV family to you and yours! Plan your festive listening here with a full schedule of holiday specials on WDAV. We can’t wait to continue sharing the joy of classical music with you in 2025.