Midday host Dianne Donovan chatted with Anne Akiko Meyers on April 23, 2009 about her new album Smile and the influences behind the music selections. If you missed the interview click here.
Judy Watts, Development Coordinator
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Good-bye June Cohen, longtime volunteer and member
Yesterday, KMFA celebrated long time volunteer and member June Cohen with a little party. As a core volunteer of KMFA, June has been answering phone calls of support during membership drives for many many years. We’re all sad to see her move away from Austin but wish her luck and plenty of good public radio experiences as she moves to California.
“There is no other station like KMFA. It’s truly one of a kind,” exclaimed June during her going away party. We agree, especially since KMFA’s loyal volunteers, listeners and members are the livelihood of this unique radio station.
KMFA volunteers and General Manager Joan Kobayashi
Music is Good for Your Health!
Well, science is beginning to embrace what we always felt was true: listening to music is good for our health!
CLICK HERE to read an article that ponders this concept in greater detail.
An interesting excerpt:
“Listening to finer music and attending concerts on a consistent basis makes your real age about four years younger,” Dr. Michael F. Roizen — the chief wellness officer of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, said recently. “Whether that’s due to stress relief or other properties, we see decreases in all-cause mortality, reflecting slower aging of arteries as well as cancer-related and environmental factors. Attending sports events like soccer or football offers none of these benefits.”
Something occurred to me as I read this article… that my donation to KMFA might actually contribute to the health of its listeners! I’d like to think so, anyway. 🙂
Happy Listening,
~Alison
What goes well with classical music? by David Crews
I’ve always been intrigued by the way music can pair with and blend, alter, or enhance movies and plays (and, of course, operas and musicals). Today, I write and perform music for television commercials and programs and some films, and it is fun to direct that “pairing energy” to accomplish a certain desired result.
When I was a very young lad, I wished I could have soundtrack music for my actual life – wonderful music of just the right mood to reflect, reinforce, or guide the events that are taking place or environments I’m experiencing in my every day life, as if it were a Hollywood movie. Long before the days of iPods, I thought it would be cool to have a small device that would play my “soundtracks” out loud, with buttons for each desired mood!
I remember being on vacations and trying to match the music with my sightseeing. There are the obvious ones, like playing the “Grand Canyon Suite” by Grofé while actually viewing the canyon, but I also remember being at Yosemite Valley and trying to back-time the cassette in my custom van (yes it was the ‘70’s) so that the big orchestral rush from the climax of Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe” ballet suites would occur just exactly as my van emerged from the tunnel to reveal the sublime and emotional view from “Inspiration Point.” It was a cinematic experience, but with real 3D!
Great music can transport you away all on its own, of course. When I come in to KMFA early on the weekends for my show, it is always a pleasure to have music that is appropriately paired for the morning moods. It might be a liturgical choral work, or maybe one of my favorite pastoral or impressionist pieces. Sometimes, I get so entrained by the music that I have to make myself pay attention to the upcoming announcements!
Classical music is simply the richest source of music that I can “take internally.” By actively pairing with it, I respond to it and it reflects my life and my emotions. I can’t listen passively. It still amazes me to find a work that evokes an emotion or scene that was never otherwise described by anyone in music or poetry or prose. That’s the meaning of masterpiece to me, and it is what makes a work truly a classic, regardless of how well known it is.
Enjoy the soundtracks of your life!
David Crews, weekend Announcer
Fan Mail for KMFA
As I write this, we are in the middle of our Spring 2009 Pledge Drive. It’s hectic good fun, and we hear from a lot of people about just how much they love KMFA! They visit us in person, or they call us, and sometimes they write to us, too. One new KMFA member even felt compelled to write us a poem….(see below)…
Thanks so much to everyone for your support so far! This radio station truly is a rare gem.
Signed, Alison Cowden, also a fan of KMFA 🙂
Ode To KMFA
Out of pure love I dedicate this page:
Givers of music to relieve and assuage,
Hearts of Austinites which buzz and rage.
As long as I draw breath in my own abysmal way,
Never will I rescind or rue that fateful day
That I pledged my loyalty to KMFA.
Since I first tuned the radio to 89.5
It seems to me, new worlds came alive,
And all I desire is for my station to thrive.
Symphony and sonata pour forth most profound,
Never have I heard such mellifluous sound,
and with our support, KMFA will forever be around.
~Ferdie B. Cassel III
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