Posted on 09/11/2020 7:21:41 AM PDT by raccoonradio
American Public Media Group has fired Minnesota Public Radio’s only Black classical music host Garrett McQueen. McQueen announced his firing on his social media accounts Thursday morning.
McQueen said he was taken off the air after his shift on Aug. 25. He was then given two warnings — one of which was about his need to improve communication and the other warning was for switching out scheduled music to play pieces he felt were more appropriate to the moment and more diverse, McQueen told MPR News.
“When things happened in the news or when there were hours of programming that only represented dead white men, I would take it upon myself to change that,” said McQueen. “That always got lots of really positive feedback, but it's not exactly what protocol calls for.”
McQueen joined Classical 24 in June 2018. Classical 24 is co-produced by American Public Media and Public Radio International, and provides round-the-clock classical music that public radio stations across the nation pay to carry. McQueen worked the overnight shift Monday through Thursday. McQueen also hosted Classical MPR’s first-ever Juneteenth special.
“And let's just face it,” said McQueen, “with [the killing of] George Floyd and all of those things, there was a lot of pressure for me to engage the audience while that's happening. I'm on the air, literally while the 3rd Precinct is being burned down. So, it's my responsibility to make sure that the programming spoke to that and that's what I did.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mprnews.org ...
Yeah, all I can think of is the Flight of the Valkeries when Trump sends in the national guard.
That was one of Tom’s best. You rarely hear it on the radio.
I wonder why?
“Now that’s what I call, MUSIC!”
I’m a Sirius XM subscriber and I noticed there’s more talking and mini-commercials in-between songs now.
I dunno - doesn’t Disco Inferno technical count as classical music these days? Albeit still from a decadent westernized culture and not an enlightened wakanda one.
“When things happened in the news or when there were hours of programming that only represented dead white men, I would take it upon myself to change that,”
Hmmm... how about: “When things happened in the news or when there were hours of programming that only represented dead black men, I would take it upon myself to change that,” Don’t like that so much, do ya, home boy.
Classical music is hundreds of years old. What would he play instead, someone beating in a hollow log with a stick?
Was that the one he played 50 times in a row?
You’re right that public radio is liberal but if listeners want classical music they should be able to get it.
There are plenty of urban rock stations he could work for.
I knew it was you that posted that! Great album, NEVER played on the radidio. That album slams the music and radio biz and TP was blackballed over it except for his older hit songs.
Made me think of Elvis Costello who stopped in the middle of his first song, and changed it to doing “Radio, Radio” on SNL.
They banned him for years because of that.
Being how black classical composers didn’t come onto the scene until the late 1800’s to early 1900’s they would be considered a minority in that genre and have less to contribute to an overall listening experience.
Bach Lives Matter
Gee I have an MBA. If I was black I could call you a racist. /s
In Boston Robert J Lurtsema did Morning Pro Musica from 1971 till his death in
2000 on WGBH-FM. I’m not all that familiar
with classical music but it was common
knowledge in our area that he would open
his show with chirping birds.
Wikipedia:”Another example of Lurtsema’s subtle sense of humor was the morning after the presidential election of 1980. He began the program as usual with a few minutes of birds, followed by that morning’s theme music and his trademark introduction, “Good morning on this Wednesday morning. And now a look at the news, edited and reported by Morning Pro Musica’s host, Robert J. Lurtsema.” Then on that morning he went on to say, “There is no news worth reporting this morning,” and went on with the program!”
(I’ll add speaking of public radio
I used to get aircheck tapes of the
folk show on WKSU at Kent State.Host Jim Blum was on the day Bill Clinton was
impeached and he referred to it as
“(on) this tragic day in our
nation’s history...”)
Whatever, I don’t mind hearing some Coleridge-Taylor. Heck, I consider Joplin to be a classical (in the popular sense that Chopin, Debussey, Stravinsky and Gershwin are “classical”) composer. I mean, if you like Dvorak you might like the admittedly derivative Florence Price. It’s still great music, and an occasional “blues” note slips in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s4yY_A2A2k
The real problem with his approach is I listen to classical music to ESCAPE current news and politics. I do not want woke stuff or even conservative talk infiltrating the time I allocate to renew and rejuvenate.
Why or why is it so hard for these activists to understand...we don’t want their whining in our entertainment or sports. Leave that stuff at the door, walk inside, and enjoy this moment of life simply for its being.
It all depends on how you Handel it.
Yup! Remember that.
Gloucester MA had a one man radio
station, WVCA FM that played classical
music with sole employee/owner Simon
Geller.He’d have to turn off the transmitter when he went off to do
shopping.
Later a company bought WVCA and while
keeping the classical music changed
call letters to WBOQ—”W-Bach”. Later they did swing/standards and now do adult
contemporary but are still WBOQ.
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