Matt Weesner celebrated his 20th anniversary with Colorado Public Radio this October. With the celebration of this huge milestone comes some sadder news – CPR Classical’s afternoon host, host of “The Baroque Show” and production manager is moving on to a new adventure as the Programming and Operations Manager at Iowa PBS in Des Moines. His last show on CPR is November 18.
Matt’s radio career started in high school, hosting weekends at KHBT-FM. “I read news, weather, even funeral announcements,” he says. “The station really served that community. The format didn't matter, I was just thrilled to be working at a radio station.”
He made the jump to public radio at South Dakota Public Broadcasting as a jack of all trades: radio program director, an "All Things Considered" news host and a music host. There, he started the weekend Americana show “On Record” in 2004, a show he still hosts today.
“I think the radio career chose me," he says. "Some of my earliest memories as a child are of being fascinated by radios, record players and pianos. I'm a blessed guy to have a career involving all three of those things.”
Matt joined CPR in 2004, not as the host we would come to love, but as a manager of CPR's Technical Operations Center. There, he ensured the station remained on the air and running smoothly. He transitioned to host and producer with CPR Classical in 2011. During this time, Matt produced all of the “Behind the Baton” features you hear throughout the week, established the beloved “First Friday Listener Requests” show, hosted CPR Classical’s Carol Countdown, shared his own moving personal experiences with Beethoven, got to the heart of why we love Yo-Yo Ma and so much more.
Outside of radio, music is close to his heart. Matt is a keyboard whiz kid and has performed as backing pianist for national tours of country artists. He regularly performed with legendary Colorado vocalist Hazel Miller and served as music director for several area churches. In late 2023, he released his first solo album, “Let’s Hold it Here.”
“It has been an honor being a small part of the history of KVOD and CPR Classical,” he says. “I've felt that every day working here. And, we have the best listeners!”
If you’d like to send Matt a farewell message, email [email protected] or call 303-871-9191 and press 4 to leave your comment.
Hear CPR Classical by clicking “Listen Live” at the top on this website, or download the Colorado Public Radio app. Listen on your radio to CPR Classical at 88.1 FM in Denver, at radio signals around Colorado. You can also tell your smart speaker to “Play CPR Classical."
