Protest WETA's format change

[GoddessOfGuinness]

Regardless of where you live, it's the principle of the thing that's important.

I'm posting this letter here, with the hope that you'll copy, paste, and send it to your friends who care about classical music.

Thanks,
GoG

-----Original Message-----
From: Bader, C
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 11:51 AM
To: [e-mail]; [e-mail]
Subject: closing of classical radio station WETA, Washington

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

As some of you may have seen in today's Washington Post, WETA,
Washington's radio station for NPR news and classical music is
preparing to change program to a news-only station.
As much as news is necessary, MUSIC and the ARTS are too.

You may consider classical music entertainment or joy, a
sophisticated hobby or a science on the side or maybe your profession.
Music is history and future, a voice, education and a way of
expression, which has survived many hundred years; it is part of our life
and an essential part of our society and a pillar of the quality of
life in our city, the Nation's Capitol.
Would we just watch passively the closing of the National Gallery?
Maybe we need to talk more about music but "closing" the
classical music radio station in the Nation's Capitol is a tragedy and a
catastrophe for the Arts.

Please join me in the maybe last attempt to avoid this programming
change. Please join me in saving WETA classical radio programming.

We need your help urgently. I have written to WETA below and I would like you to sign and
send this email on to your friends. Please forward this email to everyone you know who may want to
join this cause and have them sign below.
IF YOU ARE NUMBER 50), 100), 150), 200), etc , please email this letter
to [e-mail] and to [e-mail].

Thank you very much for your help!

ULI BADER
Director of Artistic Planning
National Symphony Orchestra




Dear Board of Directors of WETA:

I am the Director of Artistic Planning for the National Symphony
Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center and I consider the program
change of WETA FM to news-only and the cancellation of classical
music on your station a tragedy and a catastrophe for music and the
arts. We have truly enough news channels and your step is going into the
wrong direction. I know about financial restrictions but there must be
more creative ways to solve this problem. Closing is not one of them.
Where do you send your children to school? Do you consider a fine
education essential? Is it important for you or to your children to know
who Mozart, Brahms and Mahler are, maybe even Gershwin, Copland,
Philip Glass, or John Adams? And how they sound? What about
VanGogh, Picasso, Rothko?

If so - and I am certain that your answer is yes - who is left
providing this information to a wide audience on the radio.
We at the National Symphony Orchestra do everything we can to
further the understanding of music and we are investigating new
ways to improve the situation - our communication to and with our
audiences - but closing classical music (?), that is truly the wrong way to go.
I am launching a campaign to raise our voice against this step
and I hope that you will consider this public voice seriously.

With kind regards,

C. Ulrich Bader
Director of Artistic Planning
National Symphony Orchestra
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
202-416-8135



1) C. Ulrich Bader, Washington, DC
2) Kim Witman, Vienna VA
3) Marie-France Lefebvre, Washington, DC
4) Nat Chaitkin, Washington, DC
5) Claudia Chudacoff, College Park, MD
6) Alan Wonneberger, College Park, MD
7) Sophia Wonneberger, College Park, MD
8) Madeleine Wonneberger, College Park, MD
9) Jennifer Shannon, University Park, MD
10) Kevin Shannon, University Park, MD
11) Kayla Shannon, University Park, MD
12) Brenda Anna, Riverdale Park, MD
13) Norman Anna, Riverdale Park, MD
14) Ethan Anna, Riverdale Park, MD
15) Timothy Anna, Riverdale Park, MD
16) Carol Kimbell, Hyattsville, MD



C. Ulrich Bader
Director of Artistic Planning
National Symphony Orchestra
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE KENNEDY CENTER HAS A NEW PO BOX ADDRESS. ALSO,
PLEASE DO NOT SEND CDs OR OTHER MATERIAL VIA REGULAR MAIL TO THE
STREET
ADDRESS. THANKS.

street address: (for UPS and FedEx mailing only!)
2700 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20566-0001
phone: [phone]

mailing address: (for regular mail only / no packages!)
P.O. Box 101510
Arlington, VA 22210