With the arts scene shutting down due to the Covid Pandemic, I’m proud of how WQED-FM filled the void of no live performances. In particular, we put an emphasis on our vast archive of local performances by adding a weekly “Concerts@Home” broadcast every Monday at 7pm. Concerts@Home showcased past performances by Chatham Baroque, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, and many more. These broadcasts, along with our regular Wednesday and Sunday evening Pittsburgh Symphony Radio shows and Friday evening Performance in Pittsburgh programs really put the spotlight on the local arts scene at a time when many of them were forced to go dark.
In addition to “Concerts@Home,” we also worked with Pittsburgh Opera to produce four 30-minute highlight programs featuring excerpts from past Pittsburgh Opera productions (titled “Pittsburgh Opera@Home”), and we worked with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh to produce a Pittsburgh Top 10 choral works program.
As the Voice of the Arts in Western Pennsylvania, WQED-FM went out of our way to live up to that motto during a most challenging time for the Arts.
Bryan Sejvar
Director of Programming and Production, WQED-FM
How WQED FM Responded to the Pandemic
Now its 48th year as one of the world’s finest all classical non-commercial stations, WQED-FM is nearing the half-century mark of service. Within weeks of the first broadcast on January 25, 1973, WQED Board Chair Leland Hazard, one of the architects of Pittsburgh’s Renaissance and General Counsel for PPG paints Leland said in the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that “one ought every day see a fine painting, hear some great music and if possible, speak a few reasonable words. Such is the purpose of WQED-FM.”
Within weeks WQED-FM began live presentations of local voices introducing daily programs in morning and afternoon drive times, broadcasting the Pittsburgh Symphony and Pittsburgh Opera and concerts from western Pennsylvania’s finest musicians. That work continued during the pandemic of 2020 and 2021 without missing a beat.
Jim Cunningham Top 5 Picks for Relieving Stress Anytime and Anywhere
By Downloading the Classical QED app for your phone you can relieve your stress anywhere. Over the last several decades more and more research has proven that classical music improves the mood triggering dopamine in the brain and relieving stress as much as any pharmaceutical by prescription. Pittsburgh Symphony violist Penny Brill started a movement playing in the hospitals of UPMC and has become a recognized national leader in the field of health, wellness and music. The Harvard Medical School published an extensive article on the topic in 2011, Thinking about stress and music really began rolling with the Mozart Effect research done at the University of California over two decades ago. Here are five favorites heard often on Classical QED 893.
Claude Debussy Clair de Lune Moonlight played by Lang Lang
Johann Pachelbel Canon Chatham Baroque
Ravel Bolero Pittsburgh Symphony Lorin Maazel at Musikfest Bremen Germany 1994
Bach Well Tempered Clavier Book II Prelude and Fugue in C BWV 870 Nathan Carterette, piano
Listener Comments
The PSO and WQED are part of the fabric of Pittsburgh. They are local treasures and proudly represent our great city on a national level. Keep up the great work!
Michael S Sweeney
Pittsburgh
Thank you.
The world increasingly needs quality music programming 2 attempt 2 balance the uproar and violence on the rise everywhere
The world needs 2 chill with nightly music programs like yours.
Lisa M. Gribas
Grand Rapids MI
Loving Pittsburgh in San Francisco by way of Cleveland and WQED!
Recently I purchased a streaming device which allows me to hear WCLV radio in Cleveland Ohio. Originally I am from Cleveland but have lived in San Francisco, California since 1974. One of the big and wonderful surprises I have had was listening on Sunday mornings to the Pittsburgh Symphony Broadcasts. What a fabulous orchestra you have in Pittsburgh!
I am a supporter and subscriber to our San Francisco Symphony which your great conductor Manfred Honeck has conducted a few times [not nearly enough if you ask me]. In years back I recall also William Steinburg conducting some terrific concerts here.
I just wanted you to know the delight and true pleasure I receive from your broadcasts. A big THANK YOU for the great music.
Virus permitting we have a trip to your great city planned for September and I am hoping to be able to hear your orchestra live-but I realize that's not too realistic a hope-but never the less.......I would love that.
Gary Bukovnik Studio
San Francisco
To support classical music on WQED-FM, please go to www.wqed.org/donate. Thank you.
Hear what our listeners had to say