KFUO supports planned St. Louis classical station

The Synod’s KFUO Radio and the Radio Arts Foundation of St. Louis (RAF) are entering a cooperative arrangement that begins with KFUO sharing its extensive classical music library with RAF.

RAF plans to launch a new FM station serving the St. Louis area, with a focus on classical music, blues, jazz and other arts programming.

“From its inception, KFUO Radio has broadcast the finest in classical music and sacred classics, since 1948 by way of KFUO-FM, and currently streaming via CLASSIC99.com,” according to a news release announcing the cooperative arrangement from Vicki Biggs, director, Integrated Communications for the Synod.  The news release also notes that in 2010, KFUO’s FM broadcast license was sold.

“The station’s historic classical music library is a collection of recordings that were lent, leased or given by music producers and distributors for broadcast to the St. Louis market,” it continues. “This market consists of some 25,000 CDs, many of which are no longer available. The two organizations will share the music electronically.”

“We have shifted our programming to more mainline and sacred classics,” said Ron Klemm, manager of CLASSIC99.com and who has 34 years of experience with KFUO. “This shift has meant that many of these recordings have not been used since KFUO-FM went off the air.  We believe it to be a moral obligation to make sure this music, some of which is extremely rare, is shared with others.”

“We are so pleased to be able to more widely share the collection of beautiful music our church has been blessed to accumulate over the past several decades,” said the Rev. Rodney E. Zwonitzer, the Synod’s director of Broadcast Services. “The focus of CLASSIC99.com‘s programming is becoming more global in nature. It is our understanding that RAF’s new station will have a decidedly local focus. Thus, this should be a mutually beneficial arrangement. We are grateful to see God’s hand at work in opening up the doors to a developing partnership with RAF to share our audio treasures with the listening public.”

“All parties are committed with thanks and anticipation of this agreement,” Zwonitzer added. “This attitude specifically is the motivation and focus of this cooperative agreement, whereby all pledge to find additional ways to continue working together.”

To visit the CLASSIC99.com website, click here.

Posted Oct. 22, 2012 / Updated Oct. 23, 2012