Beginning today, WRR listeners will hear some new voices on the air. The new line-up reflects the station’s commitment to keep the classical format exciting an engaging.

“The station has aggressively recruited the best announcers to complement each
air shift,” Greg Davis, WRR General Manager said. “The trio of new voices brings varied, but highly professional, backgrounds to WRR, and with existing announcers, creates perhaps the most dynamic on-air staff in recent station history.”

The new line-up includes:

Kevin Pytcher assumes the duties as host of The Going Home Show (3-7
p.m. weekdays). He comes to WRR from El Paso with an extensive radio and television background. He has spent the past several years working in television in the Sun City, as promotions manager for the PBS affiliate and a broadcast and internet producer/writer for the leading news station. But
his first love is radio, where he got his start after high school as an announcer and as classical music director of KTEP-FM. Along the way, he earned a degree in communication from the station’s licensee, U.T. El Paso.

Ed Blaylock is the new evening host (7 p.m.-midnight weekdays).
Blaylock is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a degree Radio, TV, and Film. His radio experience began on campus at KNTU FM where he hosted a classical music program. He is an actor who has appeared in stage productions, children’s’ educational theater, summer stock theater, industrial videos, played character roles in independent feature motion pictures, and appeared in local and national television commercials.

Matthew Erikson joins the WRR team as the evening host on weekends
(7p.m.-midnight Saturday and Sunday). A recent Texas transplant and “passionate” music lover, Erikson was The Fort Worth Star-Telegram classical music critic from August 2006 to January 2008. A native of New England, he graduated from Amherst College and has a Master’s degree in piano performance from the Hartt School in Hartford, Conn. Prior to coming to Fort Worth, he was an arts writer for The Hartford Courant. His articles have also appeared in The Boston Globe.

They join WRR’s announcers:
· Christopher Hackett, host of The Morning Show,
· Adriana Bate, host of mid-day music on weekdays including Classic Café
· Karen Moyer, mid-day host on weekends, and
· Peter Van de Graaff, host of Music All Night.

Kurt Rongey, who split his time between programming duties and hosting The
Going Home Show, now will focus strictly on overseeing all operational functions at WRR.

In addition to the on-air staff changes, WRR also is revamping some programming features. In an effort to provide more localized programming, WRR has discontinued several syndicated symphony series, such as the Chicago and San Francisco symphonies, and has reworked several locally-produced
programs. Main Event, a WRR-produced show featuring new CD releases of classical music, will now air from 10-11 p.m. on Fridays, Command Performance, a program featuring listeners’ requests, will air Sundays from noon – 1 p.m. and the programs, Music of the Metroplex and Theme and Variations have
been discontinued.

Licensed on August 5, 1921, WRR is Texas’ first commercial radio station and the second oldest in
the United States. WRR FM has maintained its classical format since 1948. Broadcasting 24 hours a
day from historic Fair Park in Dallas, WRR’s 100,000-watt signal can be received throughout North
Texas. The station “streams” its terrestrial broadcast signal on the Internet at wrr101.com

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WRR to broadcast live from the Fort Worth Opera Festival May 25

The Fort Worth Opera Festival is capturing the imagination of opera lovers around the world. And, WRR Classical 101 is pleased to bring a taste of this tantalizing festival to its listeners. It is with great excitement, that WRR announces the live broadcast of a matinee performance of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. This historic broadcast will be 2 p.m., Sunday, May 25 live from stage of the Bass Performance Hall. Considered by many to be the greatest of the Italian Romantic operas, Lucia di Lammermoor is based on a novel by Sir Walter Scott.

The epitome of romantic opera in spite of its tragic ending, Lucia di Lammermoor demands incredible vocal and acting skills from the singers. And the Fort Worth Opera delivers with two of the hottest singers today, Elizabeth Futral (Lucia) and Stephen Costello (Edgardo). Both performed these roles at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Kurt Rongey, WRR’s operations manager, said “The wealth of dramatic music makes Lucia appealing to modern musical theatre audiences, as well as the most devoted opera fan.

“WRR listeners are in for an incredible afternoon of opera on May 25. The live broadcast is part of WRR’s commitment to bring more live, localized programming to our listeners,” Rongey said. “In recent months, WRR has broadcast the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra live from Carnegie Hall and we are currently working on several other projects with major arts groups, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.”

This special live broadcast is sponsored by UNT Health Science Center, The
Dallas Opera, Museum Place, Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau and Metroplex Cadillac Dealers.

The Fort Worth Opera Festival runs May 16-June 8. For additional information, visit fwopera.org.