{"id":8644,"date":"2011-12-08T05:47:31","date_gmt":"2011-12-08T11:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=8644"},"modified":"2025-11-16T11:50:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:50:22","slug":"highway-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/highway-89\/","title":{"rendered":"Highway 89"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Inside Classical 89’s Highway 89 studio on the BYU campus.<\/p><\/div>\n

by Ed Reichel<\/p>\n

Much has been written in recent years about the problems facing many of the nation\u2019s symphony orchestras and opera companies. It seems that they\u2019re either burdened by financial woes or coping with finding ways to reinvent themselves and stay alive and viable in an ever changing world. And depending on whom you listen to, performing arts organizations are either on the brink of extinction or they\u2019re here to stay \u2013 precisely because of what they are and what they represent.<\/p>\n

The same also goes for classical radio. Its imminent end has been prophesied for years, and it\u2019s true that some stations around the country, even in fairly large markets, have closed up shop. But despite what doomsday sayers have been predicting, radio\u2019s demise has been greatly exaggerated. \u201cI keep seeing reports on the death of radio, but radio has survived and it\u2019s doing better than people are saying,\u201d says Eric Glissmeyer, program services manager for Classical 89. Glissmeyer admits that radio in general, and public radio specifically, is up against some pretty stiff competition in the digitally and technically advanced 21st century. \u201cPublic radio listeners especially have a lot of different options today,\u201d he says, \u201cand it\u2019s not just iPods that have had their effect on radio, but also Pandora, Spotify and other listening options.\u201d But despite all that, radio in all its various forms and myriad formats has managed to survive \u2013 and actually thrive, according to \u201cMedia and the Mood of the Nation,\u201d a study that was recently commissioned by the Radio Advertising Bureau in the United Kingdom. \u201cThat poll found that people are happiest when listening to the radio,\u201d Glissmeyer said.<\/p>\n

Over a thousand people across the United Kingdom participated in the survey using their smartphones to answer questions. The study found that participants had a 100 percent boost to their happiness and a 300 percent increase in their energy levels while listening to the radio when compared to respondents who weren\u2019t using any type of media. Watching television and surfing the internet also brought a surge to people\u2019s happiness levels but not to the extent that listening to the radio did.<\/p>\n

While the study covered all of radio and didn\u2019t limit itself to classical music specifically, the findings still support Glissmeyer\u2019s contention that radio isn\u2019t anywhere near being the dinosaur many claim it to be. \u201cWe\u2019re a viable option,\u201d he says, \u201cbut there are things we need to do to stay viable and also strengthen our position.\u201d Among the things he mentions that are necessary to help ensure the future of radio is the need for emphasizing local content. \u201cLocal content is very important, and here at Classical 89 we have been dedicated to doing local programs for a long time now,\u201d he says. For years, the station has been broadcasting performances by the Utah Symphony, Logan\u2019s Utah Festival Opera and concerts from Salt Lake City\u2019s Cathedral of the Madeleine. More recently, the station has begun airing concerts by the Intermezzo Chamber Music Series. \u201cWe want to be involved with the local community,\u201d says Glissmeyer.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Classical 89 took that community involvement a step further with its new program\u00a0Highway 89<\/em>, which brings local and guest artists into the studio for live performances and gives listeners a chance to get to know the players on a bit more personal level. \u201cPeople want relationships, even vicarious relationships,\u201d says Mark Wait, who is the on- air host weekdays from 2-6 pm and also an audio engineer who records all of the \u201cHighway 89\u201d segments. \u201cPeople want to make friends and this is a low risk, fun way to get to know the musicians and hosts,\u201d many of whom are volunteers from the community and not professional announcers. And both listeners and musicians have commented positively on the new program. Says Jackie Tateishi, \u201cHighway 89\u201d producer, \u201cWe\u2019ve had good response from listeners, especially those who are musicians, and the reaction from the musicians themselves has been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Walter Rudolph\u2019s idea to have a program like\u00a0Highway 89<\/em>. Rudolph, the long time station manager of Classical 89, now retired, came up with the concept of having musicians come into the station to play a short concert and then broadcasting it. But at the time, the station was housed in the basement of the Harris Fine Arts Center at Brigham Young University and didn\u2019t have the space or the capability to do that. It wasn\u2019t until the station (along with BYU-TV) moved into its new facility on University Parkway, just east of the Marriott Center, that it was able to put Rudolph\u2019s idea into practice, because the plans for the new broadcast center included space for a state of the art recording studio. \u201cIt was Wally\u2019s pipe dream, really, until then,\u201d says Marcus Smith, radio services manager for BYU Broadcasting and host of\u00a0Thinking Aloud<\/em>. \u201cSo it was a godsend when we were able to find funding and have the support of BYU. It allowed us to make good on our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highway 89<\/em>\u00a0debuted on September 22 with a performance by Utah Premiere Brass, a Provo-based British brass band under the direction of Kirt Saville. \u201cSo far we\u2019ve had 135 musicians in the studio,\u201d Takeishi says. Among the groups and individuals who have participated in the series up through the end of November are members of the music departments of BYU, Utah Valley University and the University of Utah; the Bonneville Chamber Music Festival at Weber State University; Provo\u2019s Utah Lyric Opera and Utah Vocal Arts Academy; and Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition alumni Serhiy Salov and Dmitri Levkovich. While 135 seems an impressive number of musicians, especially for a new series, Takeishi is thinking in much bigger terms. \u201cOur goal for next year is 500,\u201d she says. And she doesn\u2019t just want classical musicians, either. \u201cWe\u2019re also interested in bluegrass, a cappella, jazz and Celtic music. We don\u2019t normally have that kind of music in the studio, but we have found that a lot of jazz musicians are interested in being on the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Takeishi concedes that\u00a0Highway 89<\/em>\u00a0is a deliberate throwback to the days when it was standard practice for radio stations to broadcast live. \u201cThis is old school style broadcasting,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s something that went away for so long that it now seems modern and progressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one associated with\u00a0Highway 89<\/em>\u00a0believes that this type of program will be the cure all for what ails public and commercial radio, but they do believe it can go a long way to help promote radio\u2019s long term well being and aid towards its sustainability. \u201cClassical public radio has always been accused of lacking spontaneity,\u201d Wait says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s true. There is so little freshness in what we do, but\u00a0Highway 89<\/em>\u00a0is the kind of thing that can make a big difference. People can be connected to the performers and the music in a way they can\u2019t through CDs. It brings in an element of spontaneity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Highway 89<\/em>\u00a0airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 5 p.m. on\u00a0Classical 89<\/a>, and every weeknight on BYU Radio at Sirius XM 143.\u00a0<\/span>For inquiries regarding\u00a0Highway 89<\/em>\u00a0send an email to\u00a0highway89@byu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ed Reichel Much has been written in recent years about the problems facing many of the nation\u2019s symphony orchestras and opera companies. It seems that they\u2019re either burdened by financial woes or coping with finding ways to reinvent themselves and stay alive and viable in an ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/edreichelslideshow.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-18 02:37:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8644"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99014,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8644\/revisions\/99014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}