If you search slippedisc.com for ‘Oregon’ you will find a catalogue of musical incompetence unmatched in a ny other US uinversity. Things have gone a bit quiet since they fired the excellent Matthew Halls as Artistic Director of the Oregon Bach Festival. So it’s reassuring to report that the hopeless Oregonians have just struck again.
A local mole informs us:
It seems the university has struck again by somehow forcing out a prominent musician and broadcaster, Peter Van de Graff. In 2016, when Van de Graff came from WFMT to KWAX, which operates under a license owned by the university, the local classical audience was charmed by his enthusiasm for the community and grateful for his professional and artistic contributions to the local classical music scene. KWAX is a community supported station but, as I understand it, the funds are administered by the university. During Van de Graff’s tenure as Music Director, the fund drives were shortened from weeks to just one or two days due his enthusiasm and to timely and generous giving. Many pledges came from internet listeners, some even from abroad.
One day in mid July, Van de Graff announced that it was his last day on the air—no explanation given. The local free paper that does some arts reporting noted the departure along with the cryptic quote from Van de Graff that “some of his reasons were not fit for publication”. The blunt force of the university immediately came to mind.
Van De Graaff hosts the Beethoven Satellite Network (BSN), an overnight classical music service, which is carried over approximately 150 radio stations across the USA</d
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.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "Britten's War Requiem: Edward Gardner takes an uncompromising & severe view softened by the poetic attention to the words from soloists in London Philharmonic Orchestra's season opener")
