How do you say goodbye to something that has been your life for over a decade? No matter how great an opportunity lies in front of you, saying ”farewell” comes with tears and small cracks splintering through the heart.
I am moving on from Colorado Public Radio, and my last show is on Sunday, November 2 from noon to 5:00 p.m. It’s the end of my work here, and I’ll be hanging up the mic ( at least for now). I hope you tune in this weekend and next so we can share some classical music together for the last time.
Although some of you may think I’m a young whippersnapper, I got my start in classical radio at Northwest Public Broadcasting in 2011 shelving physical CDs as a part-time job in college and sending music to our remote station. I eventually stepped up to the challenge of digitizing our music library (with a large bit of thanks to Colorado Public Radio, long before I dreamed about working here - NWPB was fortunate to get help from CPR!) Along with hosting, I did a lot of behind-the-scenes work, and I was eventually promoted to Music Director. We were a small but mighty team, and here I learned what it meant to "wear a lot of hats." This is also where I heard the memorable words of CPR News Program Director, Gillian Coldsnow - then NWPB's Program director, "They pay us for our minds, but we give our hearts for free."
Eventually, I moved across the country to be with my now husband, where I was fortunate enough to start work with WCRB in Boston in early 2019. While my sleep suffered, I said yes to everything - staying late, coming in early, helping out with the Boston Symphony broadcasts, producing special interview programs, and filling in wherever they needed me. My most memorable experience in Boston was interviewing NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent, Nina Totenberg and her sisters about their father’s legacy - Roman Totenberg’s “Ames, Totenberg” Stradivarius violin, famously missing for decades and only uncovered after Totenberg's death. The priceless instrument then found a new home with a talented young violinist, and returned to Boston for the first time in decades for a homecoming concert I was honored to cover. I was at WCRB for less than two years, but it feels like I gained years more in experience.
We moved to Colorado in 2020. That’s when I came to Colorado Public Radio. I joined the team in 2021 as a CPR Classical Host and Digital Producer. While here, I have gotten to hear and tell stories from classical musicians across Colorado. I am particularly proud of sharing Edward W. Hardy’s life from Harlem to Greeley, and working with the CPR News team on that feature. I adored creating the holiday program of Latin American music, Feliz Navidad, first with former CPR podcast host Luis Antonio Perez and the following year with my husband, who is from Costa Rica. And I could not properly reflect on my work here without mentioning how lucky I have been to share classical music with you in Colorado for the last four years.
Radio has been a way for me to channel my adoration for the masters of the past and present, and ensure that you and our community have access to art regardless of barriers. It’s a mission I will forever stand behind, but sometimes new opportunities arise and it becomes clear that it’s time to change directions. So! I’m taking what I have learned and loved from my public radio career and am shifting my attention to serving my community on a more intimate, face-to-face level. I have accepted a position doing communications for another mission-driven cause, connecting to my neighbors. So, similar work in a way. Just without the mic.
I hope you “stop by” over the next two weekends for my final few afternoon shows. I’d love to share a few moments of Beethoven and others with you, one last time.
There are various ways to hear great performances by today’s top artists as well as legendary singers from the Metropolitan Opera’s history. Download the Colorado Public Radio app, tune in at radio signals around Colorado, or tell your smart speaker to “Play CPR Classical."
