LINER NOTES

Greetings from all of us at WCNY-FM! For the past several months, we’ve been encouraging you to LISTEN – LEARN – LOVE the amazing classical music we play every day. Our talented local hosts are all musicians and experts in their field, always sharing information and context to make your listening experience the best it can be.

We’ve also talked a lot about how listening to classical music can de-stress our lives. Numerous studies have made the connection between this great genre of music and numerous mental and physical health benefits, including fostering better social relationships, sounder sleep, pain reduction, memory improvement, and better productivity. A study by neurologist Dr. Michael Schneck of Loyola Medicine in Chicago found that classical music can even lower your blood pressure. So, as you tune to Classic FM to LISTEN – LEARN – LOVE… and RELAX, we asked each of our Classic Choices hosts to tell us about their favorite no-stress classical music piece of all time:

For me, it’s ‘Spiegel im Spiegel’ by Arvo Pärt. It’s deceptively simple—gentle arpeggios in the accompaniment, with the main instrument (usually a violin, but it has been played by a wide array of instruments) creating a deepening melodic mirror image, but always coming back home to rest.”

— Diane Jones

Rachmaninoff’s ‘Vocalise.’ Specifically, the recording featuring Anna Moffo with Leopold Stokowski conducting. It’s calm, quiet, wistful, and dreamy. And yet, I hear a hint of underlying mischief. It makes me smile.”

— Bruce Paulsen

‘Song to the Moon’ from Dvořák’s opera Rusalka. In this aria, the water nymph Rusalka sings to the moon, asking where a love can be for her. It has beautiful, long melodic lines, and the orchestration sounds a lot like the moonlight on the water.”

— Marie Lamb

For me, a piece of ‘no-stress’ classical music needs to be something that I can allow to fade into the background. One of the first that comes to mind is Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony. It means a lot to me, because it was the first big symphony I performed in high school when I played the viola.”

— Adam Fine

When I want to completely relax and listen to classical music, I usually turn to early music from the renaissance period (Composers such as Josquin, DuFay, Ockeghem, or Orlando de Lassus). I usually select a piece with which I’m unfamiliar and hope it will become a new favorite. If I have to pick one, it’s ‘Missa L’homme armé’ by Josquin.”

— Spencer Phillips

Also on the radio front, Community FM, WCNY HD3 has added three more programs to its ever-expanding lineup. We are very pleased to welcome Talk CNY, a new podcast just launched by CenterState CEO highlighting the programs and initiatives contributing to the economic growth of our region. Also new to Community FM, the award-winning Zestful Aging, produced and hosted by Psychotherapist Nicole Christina, with guests and stories that re-frame aging as a time of great opportunity. Finally, WCNY’s own political expert David Lombardo brings us Dispatches from Planet Albany, a new podcast offering a smart and often funny insider look at the off-microphone conversations taking place each week in our State Capitol.

As always, thanks for listening, and thanks very much for your support of WCNY’s radio stations!

SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FOR COMPLETE RADIO

Community FM Program Schedule

NEW ORIGINAL PROGRAMS ON COMMUNITY FM!