February 2005 Articles

Classically Black: Adolphus Hailstork
Sunday, February 13, 8 p.m.

Composer Adolphus Hailstork's stated aim is to "create music for men's spirits and not merely for their minds or intellects."
Critic James Reel praised Hailstork's music for "emerg[ing] naturally from 1940s American populism . . . It has matured with the seasons to become a rich documentation of certain aspects of American life."
Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, various chamber ensembles, band, and orchestra. A student of Vittorio Giannini, David Diamond, and Nadia Boulanger, his music is frequently performed by major orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and many other leading ensembles.
In this program, Hailstork talks about the creative process and how he approaches writing a new piece, from his thoughts on "new music" and the old masters to how current events and the modern world inform his creative output. Musical vignettes give listeners a real sense of the variety and textural richness of the composer's work. Listeners will come to appreciate the complex influences on his artistry, from Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and Igor Stravinsky to African American genres, including spirituals and jazz. Dr. Hailstork is Professor of Music and Eminent Scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Produced and hosted by Roger Cooper, Classically Black: Adolphus Hailstork presents a rich sampling of this widely-respected composer's music.

BACK TO TOP

William Grant Still: A Legacy of Triumph
Sunday, February 6, 8 p.m.

William Grant Still's career as a composer and musician led him from the blues in St. Louis to the bright lights of Broadway, and from the classical stage to Hollywood, where he composed music for such programs as Perry Mason and Gunsmoke. He was the first African-American to write music for radio, the first to have a symphony performed, and the first to conduct a major symphony orchestra. His Troubled Island was the first opera by an African-American composer to be performed by a major company (in 1949 by the New York City Opera).
Born in Mississippi in 1895, Still was an important trailblazer in American orchestral music. He studied at Wilberforce and Oberlin Colleges in Ohio, arranged the St. Louis Blues for W.C. Handy, played the oboe for Eubie Blake's "Shuffle Along" and other shows in Harlem in the 1920s, and helped create the "Hollywood Sound" in films such as The Lost Horizon, Pennies from Heaven, and Stormy Weather.
Join host Greg Kostraba for this celebration of the man known as "The Dean of African-American Composers."

BACK TO TOP

The Making of a Man: The Story of Frederick Douglass
Sunday, February 20, 8 p.m.

The Making of a Man: The Story of Frederick Douglass is a gripping dramatization recounting the remarkable life of a child of slavery.
Born Frederick Baily in eastern Maryland, young Frederick Douglass learned early on that slavery was not the benevolent institution Southerners claimed it to be. Eating daily from a trough was just one of degradations he and other slaves were subjected to. He quickly came to despise the beatings and other brutalities that characterized the South's "peculiar institution."
Having secretly taught himself to read, at 20 Douglass escaped by posing as a free seaman, traveling first to Philadelphia and then to New York. From there, Douglass' story takes on heroic proportions. He grew to become a leader of the abolitionist movement and one of America's greatest voices for freedom. Douglass used his talents as a writer and orator to fight for emancipation and, following the Civil War, for full equality for black Americans.
Frederick Douglass is portrayed by host and producer Donnie L. Betts.

BACK TO TOP

The Afro: Personal Reflections
Sunday, February 27, 8 p.m.

When African-Americans first began wearing the Afro hairstyle over forty years ago, they were revolting against white aesthetics and white politics. Since then, it has evolved into a way of embracing black identity-affirming who and what black people are.
In The Afro: Personal Reflections, host and producer David Person takes a historical and personal look at this hairstyle. He explores African-American history, culture, and politics through a hairstyle that black psychologists William Grier and Price Cobbs describe as a "gentle cloche of black velvet."
Through celebrity interviews with Dick Gregory, Abbey Lincoln, Mavis Staples, and others, you will come to understand what all the excitement was about in the 1960s and '70s when African Americans challenged a standard of beauty that all but excluded them, redefining it to accommodate their uniqueness.
The observations of writers like Daphne Muse of The Tavis Smiley Show and Elmer Smith from The Philadelphia Daily News, as well as various experts and historians further illuminate this key element of the 1970s slogan "black is beautiful." Music by popular artists Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Parliament-Funkadelic is woven through the program; as are spoken-word performances on the Afro, and social and political issues associated with black hair.

BACK TO TOP

Leonard Bernstein: An American Life

This landmark eleven-part documentary continues with hours six through nine.

Bernstein: The Conductor
Sunday, February 6 and 13, 9 p.m.

These two hours delve into Bernstein's evolution as a conductor, including his apprenticeship with Serge Koussevitsky, Fritz Reiner, and Dmitri Mitropoulos; his New York Philharmonic debut and his subsequent career leading it.
We touch on his early work with the Israel Philharmonic and his guest-conducting career in Europe and in Israel, especially in the latter part of his life. We'll also explore Bernstein's historic role as the first important American-born conductor, as well as examining the conductor's role in general.

Crossroads (1968-1978)
Sunday, February 20, 9 p.m.

Bernstein left the Philharmonic in 1968 to concentrate on composing. This hour covers the creation of Bernstein's Mass in 1971, his Norton lectures on music and language at Harvard in 1973, and his signing of a new record contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 1972, ending his 25-year relationship with Columbia Records.
This hour will also touch on Bernstein's Songfest of 1977, his collaboration on the ballet Dybbuk with Jerome Robbins in 1974, and the colossal failure of his 1976 Bicentennial musical collaboration with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
In 1976, Bernstein publicly separated from his wife Felicia and moved in with his longtime lover Tommy Cochran. Four months later, Bernstein moved back in with Felicia, just before she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She died in 1978 and Bernstein blamed himself for her death. He never completely recovered-either from her loss or his sense of guilt.

Bernstein: The Composer
Sunday, February 27, 9 p.m.

Bernstein's role as a composer is often overshadowed by his roles as conductor and teacher. This hour will feature an evaluation of Bernstein's body of composed music-for both popular and classical audiences.
We'll trace the evolution of Bernstein works including his three symphonies: Jeremiah, Age of Anxiety and Kaddish; and many of his other works, including Fancy Free, Chichester Psalms, Mass, On the Town, Wonderful Town, West Side Story, On The Waterfront, Trouble in Tahiti, Songfest, A Quiet Place, Candide, Dybbuk, and other piano, vocal and symphonic works.
Finally, we cover how Bernstein's interpretations of the classics differ from those of other great conductors. We will hear many examples of what music Bernstein best liked to conduct and discuss his role in the introduction of 20th century works into the classical repertoire.

BACK TO TOP

Compact Discoveries
with Fred Flaxman

Name That Tune!
Sunday, February 6, 4 p.m.

This is Compact Discoveries' first quiz. Get out your pen and paper and try to name the composer and composition for each of the ten delightful selections you will hear in this hour.

Opus 1
Sunday, February 13, 4 p.m.

A program of the first published compositions by Rachmaninov, Chopin, Grieg and others-their Opus 1.

Music for Insomniacs
Sunday, February 20, 4 p.m.

Pieces selected to help you relax. Includes Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1, Vaughan-Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves, Albinoni's Adagio in g for Strings and Organ, and Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile.

Good Old-Time Music by Vieuxtemps
Sunday, February 27, 4 p.m.

Vieuxtemps means "old times" in French. The 19th century Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps composed seven old-time Romantic violin concertos worthy of his name. Fred Flaxman features the fourth and fifth concertos in this program, both performed by Itzhak Perlman with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Includes Vieuxtemps' humorous variations on Yankee Doodle.

BACK TO TOP

Arts Week 2005
February 8-March 1

Arts Week is a showcase for the best and most exciting work in the creative and performing arts from Indiana University and the surrounding community. From the intimate theater of local actors and playwrights to the stirring artistry of IU's Grammy Award-winning faculty, Bloomington continues to offer world-class, memorable experiences in virtually every style and genre of creative expression. Artists who intrigue, challenge and inspire-these are the essence of Bloomington.
Highlights from Arts Week 2005 include the following. For a full listing of events, visit www.indiana.edu/~artsweek.

2/10 - Beausoleil, a Lotus Concert
Buskirk-Chumley Theater
7 p.m.
$15 general, $10 for 12 and under, 65 and over

World-famous Grammy-winning Cajun group BeauSoleil kick off Arts Week 2005. Led by Michael Doucet, BeauSoleil take Cajun music into new territory, adding elements of zydeco, jazz, Tex-Mex, country, and blues. Their latest recording Gitane Cajun has been nominated for a Grammy in the category Best Traditional Folk Album.

2/11 - Bacchai by Euripides, the American premiere of a new translation by Colin Teevan
Feb. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (curtain talk with the translator following the Feb. 10 performance)
Wells-Metz Theater
8-10 p.m.
$15 general, $13 student/senior, $10 Student rush ($10 cash w/valid Student ID 30 minutes before show)

Experience the enduring power of Euripides' horrifyingly beautiful allegory of the human struggle between passion and reason in which primal hedonistic urges combat the need for order and restraint. Over two millennia after its original performance Bacchai still thrills as a theatrical tour de force, especially in a vibrant new translation under the direction of guest director Randy White.

2/12 - Poet Yusef Komunyakaa with the Susie Ibarra Ensemble
Buskirk-Chumley Theater
8-10 p.m.
Free

2/13 - Writers at the Waldron
Waldron Rose Firebay
6:30 p. m.
IU Creative Writing Faculty read from their work: Samrat Upadhyay, Scott Sanders, Crystal Wilkinson, Alyce Miller, Maurice Manning
Free

2/13 - Shakespeare in Art, Music and Word (Exhibit, Performance, & Discussion)
IU Art Museum Special Exhibits Gallery
4-5:30 p.m.
Free

Consider Shakespeare from different angles at this special program that brings together the Indiana Shakespeare Festival, the Early Music Institute, IU Dramaturg Tom Shafter, and IUAM Curator of Western Art after 1800 Jenny McComas. A painting by Henry Fuseli and a print by James Fittler, both in the IUAM's collection, are the inspiration. A reception follows the program.

2/20 - Michael Martone
Fiction about Indiana
Waldron Arts Center
4-5:30 p.m.
Free

Author Michael Martone reads from his work

2/20 - P.D.Q. Bach: The Vegas Years
IU Auditorium
8 p.m.
$10 (includes reception)
Music concert preceded by reception with refreshments at 7 p.m. in the foyer.

A concert by Peter Schickele, host of Schickele Mix (heard on WFIU Sundays at 1 p.m.) culminates Arts Week with the Professor's unique brand of musical hilarity. The first half of the concert features one of the most recent P.D.Q. Bach discoveries, the cantata Gott sei dank, da? heute Freitag ist ("Thank God It's Friday"), for soprano and orchestra, as well as the infamous Five Songs from Shakespeare. The pièce de resistance is a suite of selections from P.D.Q.'s dramatic oratorio, Oedipus Tex, featuring soprano Michèle Eaton as Billie Jo Casta and tenor David Düsing, and selections from the Art of the Ground Round, fully introduced by the Professor.

BACK TO TOP

2005 BAAC Arts Leadership Awards

The Bloomington Area Arts Council announced its 2005 Arts Leadership Awards, which will be presented February 16 at the Bloomington Convention Center. WFIU is a sponsor of the awards program.

Living Treasure:
Rudy Pozzatti has made his mark as a world-renowned printmaker. He has also taught and mentored hundreds of students as Distinguished Professor of Art at Indiana University's School of Fine Arts. His work is owned by museums and galleries around the world.

Business Award:
Monroe Bank provides an unmatched level of support of both cash contributions as well as in-kind and volunteer labor for many arts organizations and individual artists throughout the region. The bank opens its main location in downtown Bloomington for monthly receptions and exhibits of the work of area artists, and buys local art for its corporate art collection.

Arts in Education Award:
For over two decades, Janis Stockhouse has developed and sustained musical and educational excellence with Bloomington High School North's band program, which consists of three concert bands, four jazz bands, a marching band and smaller ensembles.

Arts Advocate Award:
Patricia Murphy Pizzo has supported the arts in Bloomington since the 1950s. She started the IU School of Fine Arts Bookstore and has been actively involved as a volunteer with many other local arts organizations.

Arts and Cultural Organization Award
Since its founding in 1994, the nonprofit Lotus Education and Arts Foundation has become an indispensable part of local culture; integrating art and community, and introducing music and cultures from all other the globe to thousands of people of all ages.

Brown County Arts Award
The Brown County Convention and Visitor's Bureau is recognized for its outstanding promotion of Brown County's artists and the revival of Brown County's heritage as the Art Colony of the Midwest. Over the last several years, the CVB has made Brown County's artistic assets the focus of its campaigns to bring visitors to Nashville and in general strengthen the local economy.

Greene County Arts Award:
Sheila Jerrels of Linton is a music educator in the Bloomfield Public Schools in rural Greene County, where she nurtures and inspires vocal ensembles and choirs from elementary through high school.

Lawrence County Arts Award:
Guy Rumsey of Bedford is Fine Arts Director for North Lawrence Community Schools, overseeing the string program as well as choir, band, general music and art. He was also the driving force behind the construction and ongoing use of the Bedford North Lawrence Performing Arts Center.

Owen County Arts Award:
Ken Bucklew is a noted painter of landscapes and waterfowl. He has been honored by the U.S. Duck Stamp Competition, New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, and Indiana Heritage Arts. His artwork has raised several thousand dollars for wetlands restoration projects.

BACK TO TOP

Dear Dick,

Since the late 1950s, listeners in south central Indiana enjoyed a radio program of music and commentary quite unlike anything found on the dial-Afterglow with Dick Bishop. You cherished every note of this incredible jazz and popular song repertoire, and loved its romance and sizzle. Your voice captured the hearts of listeners, and introduced several generations to a literature that is so uniquely American.
Now as you move on to a different kind of glow, you take with you the heartfelt thanks of thousands of individuals whose lives were enriched just by listening to Dick Bishop on Friday night, on WFIU. You created not only an audience, but a tradition.
For some, the evening afterglow never fades-it simply blends into the morning's rays. And so it will be for your WFIU colleagues and the listeners who cherished Friday night as that magic time, when a soft-spoken man gave them the sounds of Ella, Artie, and Mel. It's a gift they will carry with them and share.
On behalf of WFIU, I thank you for your contribution to the station, listeners, IU, and Indiana. Your presence, love of the art, and dedication to radio are true blessings. They are simply irreplaceable.

Best wishes,

Christina Kuzmych
WFIU Station Manager

BACK TO TOP

Composers Datebook Debuts

What do Chopin and Corelli have in common with Chick Corea and John Corigliano? Find out by listening to WFIU's new program Composers Datebook.
Each two-minute program informs and entertains you with timely information about composers of the past and present. Composers Datebook notes significant or intriguing musical events involving these composers, with appropriate and accessible music related to each. Your host is John Zech, a classical music announcer, producer, and program host for more than twenty years.
Composers Datebook replaces Weather Notebook Monday to Wednesday at 3:25 p.m. Focus on Flowers can be heard Thursdays and Fridays at the same time.

BACK TO TOP

Dick Bishop and Me
by Joe Bourne

Dick and I have always just gotten along very well. We both like many styles of jazz, though he has his favorites and I have mine. We never had to "divvy things up" in terms of our coverage of the music. Only when covering major events, like the centennials of Duke Ellington and Count Basie, did we have programs back to back covering the same subject, and even then we each did it our own way and no one seemed to object.
Being on the air together during annual Fund Drives-that's always been a special time together. I can make it clear how much I appreciate Dick's love and knowledge of jazz, and respect his expertise.
The funniest story about Dick and me that I know of happened before we even knew each other. Benny Goodman, in his later years, had decided once more to put together a small band for a tour, including a performance at Clowes Hall at Butler University. This was around 1974, when I was just getting started in radio.
I was pretty timid when it came to approaching anyone of Goodman's stature. But I had to see him, so my wife Paula and I went to Indianapolis for the concert. I brought a pocket full of cassettes and a small recorder. After the concert I went backstage and screwed up my courage while waiting for Benny to emerge from his dressing room.
Now Benny was known for fixing people with a most intimidating stare, known as "The Ray," when he didn't want to be bothered; as he came out, I imagined he had directed one right at me. I froze. He strode past with his entourage. More than a little depressed, I headed home, having missed my chance to interview Benny Goodman.
About a decade later, having accepted an offer to do a daily jazz program on WFIU, I got to meet the legendary WFIU announcer, Dick Bishop. He greeted me warmly, and as we compared experiences we had had in the business, he mentioned the time he had interviewed Benny Goodman. From his description, I quickly realized that it was Dick Bishop in the group with Benny that same night as he passed me.
Dick says that he and Goodman went to the popular Indianapolis eatery, Sam's Subway. Dick placed his recorder on the table and they had a leisurely conversation over a sumptuous dinner. For me, the night had been a disaster, but for Dick it turned out to be a delightful and productive evening with one of the true jazz greats . . . with one small exception. After all the food and drink had been consumed, Benny Goodman and friends arose from their dinner, bid goodbye, and stuck Dick with the entire bill.

BACK TO TOP

Dick Bishop Retires but the Afterglow Remains

For over four decades Dick Bishop has been producing jazz and popular song programs on WFIU. Starting with Journey Into Jazz in 1959, Dick introduced generations of listeners to the American jazz and popular song repertoire. Most recently, listeners cherished Dick's Friday night Afterglow broadcasts as a magic time-unlike anything else on the radio in south-central Indiana.
Thus it was a bittersweet moment for Dick's fans when, on January 28th, he gave his last Afterglow broadcast.
"Well, this is it," Dick said, "the last regularly scheduled Afterglow. I can't believe it, but after thirty-six years it's here. It's time to let someone else occupy this prime time spot on WFIU's schedule." (Afterglow will continue on Fridays with its new as yet unchosen host.)
People who have worked with Dick over the years recalled fond memories.
Michael Bourne, now an announcer at jazz station WBGO in Newark, New Jersey, was at WFIU in the 1970s. "I appreciated that the music Dick played was always elegantly swinging," he says. "Like the best jazz and song, nothing Dick played ever sounded old. And Dick himself never grew old, but kept an enviable collegiate boyishness in his enthusiasm for jazz and life."
George Walker was on the air when Dick came to read news in the summer of 1967. "I admired his easy, confident manner," says George. "It so eloquently showed his respect for the music that he played and for the audience. I've tried to imitate some of his 'moves' ever since."

Reflections on a musical journey

Dick himself took the opportunity to think back on his experiences.
"Over the past thirty-six years it has been my privilege to produce and host a program of jazz and American popular song. How fortunate I've been! Isn't thirty-six years long enough? WFIU's staff and my engineers over the years, and of course our listeners, have made it fun.
"I don't know how many individuals have been given the opportunity to host a program they totally produce, without any interference, for all these years. Did I 'take requests'? Sure. Walking down the street. Shopping. At an event. In Nick's. It's been truly giving listeners what they want to hear and talking directly to them-a late night weekend conversation after a busy week.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank Afterglow's loyal listeners-some have listened for decades-and our underwriters and production support providers for their confidence in what we do.
"Jazz and American popular song are, by definition, truly American. Both are art forms of the highest quality. All my life, I've been pleased and privileged to be a part of them. My musician friends are incredible people-both as talents and remarkable human beings. I cherish their friendship."
Although Afterglow has left the airwaves, Dick has every intention to keep active in broadcasting. "My heart is with this station and the listeners," he says. "I started reading news and doing a 'shift' in 1959 as an undergrad, so I want to do some specials in the future that might make sense-'songs of the season,' that sort of thing. Whatever the station thinks would be useful."

Marian McPartland's reaction

Dick named his program "Afterglow" after a piece by his friend jazz pianist Marian McPartland, who hosts Piano Jazz. He also used McPartland's composition "Afterglow" as the theme music for the program. (Piano Jazz airs on WFIU Fridays at 8 p.m.). Dick first met McPartland at a jazz festival in French Lick in the summer of 1959. As a student announcer for WFIU, Dick interviewed Marian and her husband Jimmy McPartland.
"Jimmy knew Hoagy and all the guys from IU," Dick says, "because he took Bix Biederbecke's place with the Wolverines, a popular jazz group of the day. Marian was beginning to become a superstar in jazz even then and the sessions at that weekend included Dave Brubeck, Herbie Mann, Miles Davis, and so many others."
When Marian McParland heard about Dick's retirement, she sent off a quick dispatch.
"Dick, I can't believe that you are going to retire! As Duke Ellington said to some rude person, 'Retire to what?' And that's how I feel about you.
"But knowing you, I'm sure that you have lots of things cooking now that Afterglow has dimmed. And whatever you undertake in the future, I'm sure it will be interesting and fun. Thanks for all the great music."
Dick wrapped up his final Afterglow program with Hoagy Carmichael's 1940 composition "Can't Get Indiana Off My Mind," performed by Al Cobine. Speaking in the warm, conversational tone his listeners grew to love over the years, he said, "Thanks for listening. All the best of course. Good night."
Everyone who knows Dick agreed that his personal afterglow will stay with us for a long time.

BACK TO TOP

Musical Highlights for February
by Robert Lumpkin, Music Director

Artist of the Month
February is Black History Month, and WFIU celebrates the accomplishments of African-American musicians throughout our programming. Our Artist of the Month is the distinguished composer and jazz musician David Baker. The IU Professor of Jazz Studies is an internationally acclaimed performer and composer in jazz and classical idioms. He's also an accomplished teacher with a long list of distinguished students. Join us on WFIU for a performance of Alabama Landscape on Wednesday, February 2 at 10:12 p.m. Paul Freeman conducts the Czech National Symphony. You can hear the Sonata I for Piano played by pianist Karen Walwyn on Tuesday, the 8th at 11:08 p.m., and the Beaux Arts Trio performs Roots II on Wednesday, February 16 at 10:12 p.m. Paul Freeman and the Czech National Symphony join us again in a performance of Life Cycles scheduled for Thursday evening, February 24th at 7:06 p.m.

New Releases
Two symphonies and two chamber works are highlighted in our selected new releases for February. Pianist Murray Perahia performs the Schubert's Piano Sonata in A, D. 959 on Wednesday, February 2, at 10:12 p.m. from a new Sony Classical release. Riccardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw Orchestra have a new recording on Decca of Mahler's Symphony No. 9, and WFIU will air that on Wednesday, the 9th at the same time. Join us on Thursday, February 17th at 7:07 p.m. to hear the Hagen Quartet in a performance of Mozart's String Quartet in F, K. 590. That's also on a new Deutsche Grammophon recording. On Wednesday the 23rd at 10:12 p.m. we'll hear the Symphony No. 4 in c, Op. 45 by Dmitri Shostakovich, played by the Kirov Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev from a recent release on the Philips label.

BACK TO TOP

Neither rain nor snow . . .

. . . stayed WFIU's Assistant News Director Chad Bouchard from his appointed rounds on December 23rd, the day of the big snow storm. Commuting to work on his cross-country skis was "as natural as riding a bicycle," said Chad, who grew up in Maine.
Nor did the snow deter announcer Ann Corrigan from making it to the station in the early morning. "I was shocked to wake up to discover my car buried under a foot of snow," she said. "I had my little Honda towed out of the parking lot and onto the adjacent street. After gingerly maneuvering around the build-ups of snow in the middle of the street, I arrived at WFIU just in time for the morning edition of Marketplace."
Later that day Radio Studio Supervisor John Shelton climbed to the roof of the Radio-TV Building and swept off the snow from the radio satellite dish. The dish picks up the signal from the orbiting satellite that beams many of the programs we hear on WFIU.

BACK TO TOP

Dear Dick,

You have had an unprecedented long run on WFIU and at Indiana University. In a place where many people have built long-lasting careers, you have set a special mark by doing so in multiple venues. In addition to working in administration at the University and at the Foundation, you have pursued a wonderful creative outlet at the radio station. Through a handful of executive directors, program directors, and station managers, you have been a constant.
Afterglow is a program that is neither flashy nor trendy. Rather, it is an effort based on a love of American popular music and the standards that have long outlived their composers and performers. Your obvious affection for their work shows in each broadcast and I think that's why the program has developed such a following. Seated alone in a recording booth, one often wonders how many people actually are listening to and enjoying any program. In this case, I suspect devoted listeners are joined each week by casual channel surfers who discover music and commentary so appropriate to the day and time. WFIU has been pleased to be one of your homes over these many years and the beneficiary of your professionalism.
We all join in congratulating you on your University accomplishments, your semi-retirement, and your artistic contributions.

Best wishes,

Perry Metz
General Manager
WFIU/WTIU

BACK TO TOP

Profiles

February 6 - Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa's numerous books of poems include "Pleasure Dome: New & Collected Poems, 1975-1999," "Talking Dirty to the Gods," and "Thieves of Paradise." His prose is collected in "Blues Notes: Essays, Interviews & Commentaries." He also co-edited "The Jazz Poetry Anthology" and co-translated "The Insomnia of Fire." He is a chancellor of The Academy of American Poets and a professor in the Council of Humanities and Creative Writing Program at Princeton University. He spoke with Michael Wilkerson hosts this hour-long interview. (Komunyakaa will be in Bloomington on February 12th as part of Arts Week.

February 13 - Rudi Pozzatti
WFIU replays an interview with Rudi Pozzatti, recipient of the 2005 Bloomington Area Arts Commission "Living Treasure" award which recognizes an individual artist for lifetime achievement. Since he arrived in Bloomington in the fall of 1956, Rudy Pozzatti has been on the forefront of the artistic scene in our area. He is a world-renowned artist and teacher who has taught and mentored several generations of students, and he is credited with building the IU printmaking program into one of the finest in the country. His artwork is featured in the permanent collections of over 100 museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, The National Gallery, the Library of Congress, and Chicago Art Institute.

February 20 - Third House
This hour-long question-and-answer session with legislators from the Indiana General Assembly provides insight into current legislative activities. The featured legislators represent most of the WFIU listening area and answer questions from local residents. Produced in the studios of WTIU, Third House is simulcast live on that station. If you have any questions that you would like to submit, send them in advance to wtiu@indiana.edu or call 855-2102 or (800) 553-7893.

February 27 - Michael Martone
Michael Martone is the author of several fiction and nonfiction collections, including "The Blue Guide to Indiana," "Pensée: The Thoughts of Dan Quayle," "Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler's List" and "The Flatness and Other Landscapes." He often writes about Indiana life with what Louise Erdrich describes as a "deep affection for the ordinary." Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Martone studied at Butler University in Indianapolis and at IU. He is now Professor of English and Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Alabama. Michael Wilkerson hosts this hour-long interview. As part of Arts Week 2005, Martone will read from his work on February 20th in Bloomington.

BACK TO TOP

The Radio Reader
with Dick Estell

"The Children's Blizzard"
by David Laskin
Begins: February 4

January 12, 1888, began as an unseasonably warm morning across Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. The weather was so mild that children walked to school without coats and gloves. But that afternoon, without warning, the atmosphere suddenly, violently changed. One moment the air was calm; the next the sky exploded in a raging chaos of horizontal snow and hurricane-force winds. Temperatures plunged as an unprecedented cold front ripped through the center of the continent.
The next morning some five hundred people lay dead on the drifted prairie. Many of them were children who had perished on their way home from country schools. In a few terrifying hours, the hopes of the pioneers had been blasted by the bitter realities of their harsh environment.
With the storm as its dramatic, heartbreaking focal point, "The Children's Blizzard" captures this pivotal moment in American history by tracing the stories of five families who were forever changed that day.
The deadliest blizzard ever to hit the prairie states, author Laskin has produced a masterful portrait of a tragic crucible in the settlement of the American heartland.

BACK TO TOP

Broadcasts from the IU School of Music

SNOW-Hasana Tanz; Trio Indiana
Airs: 2/1 at 10 a.m., 2/4 at 3 p.m.

IVES-Variations on "America"; Paul Biss/IU University Orchestra
Airs: 2/7 at 7 p.m., 2/8 at 10 a.m., 2/11 at 3 p.m.

FRANCAIX-Divertissement; Trio Indiana
Airs: 2/14 at 7 p.m., 2/15 at 10 a.m., 2/18 at 3 p.m.

BEETHOVEN-Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21; Paul Biss/IU University Orchestra
Airs: 2/21 at 7 p.m.; 2/22 at 10 a.m.

BACK TO TOP

WFIU's Future Fund

It's been fifty years since WFIU began broadcasting with just a few educational programs. Today we broadcast programs around the clock. We have a responsibility to secure the future of WFIU for the benefit of our listeners.
This future will take us beyond the limits of today's technology. To secure that future will take a major investment in technology and expertise-a commitment well beyond the resources we now generate through our annual membership program, which supports our daily operation.
To support these new initiatives, we've established a new major donor campaign: the WFIU Future Fund. The Fund will help WFIU meet new technology needs as we make the transfer to digital broadcasting which alone will be a station expenditure of over $250,000.
We'd like to thank these donors who have increased their level of support by becoming Charter Members of the WFIU Future Fund. Their gifts come in many forms-direct gifts of support, stock, insurance policies and inclusion in wills.
For information about becoming a Charter Member of the WFIU Future Fund, contact Judy Witt: 812-855-2935.

WFIU Charter Donors:

Anonymous (29)
James and Alexandra Ackerman
Becky Cape
Fred and Sandra Churchill
Roland and Susan Cote
Anna Marie and Matthew Dalle-Ave
Robert and Elizabeth DeVoe
Mrs. C. Perry Griffith
Ken and Diana Gros Louis
Harold and Dorothy Hammel
Ross Jennings
Stephen and Diane Keucher
Celeste and Mike McGregor
Lucile Moore
William Murphy
John and Susan Nash
Dr. Matthew Parmenter
James and Barbara Randall
Frederick Risinger
Maurice and Linda Smith
Ron and Sally Stephenson
Mary and Joseph Walker
Eva Zogorski

WFIU Planned Gifts and Bequests:

James and Alexandra Ackerman
Ross Allen
Ken and Joanne Barnes
Jeff and Pam Davidson family
Helen McMahon
Perry and Nancy Metz
Walt Niekamp

Thank you to all who have already made the commitment to help WFIU build for the future! Listeners interested in joining the effort may call Judy Witt at 812-855-2935 or jwitt@indiana.edu. People are participating by contributing cash, stock, life insurance, and by including one or both stations in their wills.

BACK TO TOP

WFIU
Created and maintained by Michael Toler
Last updated: Monday, January 31, 2005
Copyright 2005, The Trustees of
Indiana University