This Arts Council-funded Project is entitled Charlottesville Classical. The project was proposed by Nathan Moore, General Manager of WTJU.

The University of Virginia and surrounding community are home to numerous classical music performance organizations. WTJU 91.1 FM airs 40+ hours per week of classical music programming and serves as a cultural resource and information hub for classical music in our community.

Last year, WTJU launched a new 24/7 classical music service called CharlottesvilleClassical.org. At Charlottesville Classical, listeners experience the full richness of the classical repertoire – from the earliest medieval chants to the latest compositions; beloved masterworks and newly discovered gems. The service is available free on any device that streams audio.

One of our key priorities is to get more students connected with classical music in our community. With this project, we plan to expand our classical music resources to encourage that development through two key avenues:

1. Media-rich content development at CharlottesvilleClassical.org. Hire student producers to develop new multimedia content at CharlottesvilleClassical.org, which will be re-purposed for airplay on WTJU 91.1 FM. Central to this content will be interviews and profiles of Classical performance organizations at UVA and beyond, as well as UVA student ensembles. Each entry will include: photos, audio and video streams, a written profile, and so on. Audio interviews with these student and professional classical musicians will also air on WTJU as part of our regular classical programming.

Content development at CharlottesvilleClassical.org will also include reviews of new classical music releases, posts delving into classical music history, a curated classical music calendar, and more. We hope to develop this digital platform into a rich resource for students and community members alike who have a desire to connect with classical music in Charlottesville.

Audio from these classical profiles and other digital-first content will be integrated on an ongoing basis into WTJU’s classical music morning shows (Sunday-Friday, 6-9am), when we reach our largest listening audience.

2. Classical music speaker series and artist residency. This series will feature local experts in classical music, and will culminate in a visiting artist residency focused on classical music radio for a new generation.

During the 2017-18 academic year, WTJU will host a series of relatively casual conversations on or near Grounds around classical music. These will be marketed specifically toward a student audience, though staff and faculty will be welcome to attend. Speakers may include younger classical music experts like WTJU’s own Kyle Chattleton (PhD candidate in the music department) and Xavier Taylor (undergraduate in the music department), as well as retired Charlottesville Symphony conductor Kate Tamarkin, Sunday Opera Matinee host Tim Snider, and more.

The speaker series will culminate in an artist residency with Maggie Molloy, a classical music radio host and a music journalist at KING-FM and Second Inversion in Seattle. She manages all of Second Inversion’s programming and platforms, including curating the 24/7 online stream and website features, producing written and multimedia content, and serving as an on-air host for Second Inversion. Ms. Malloy is also the founder, director, and editor of Second Inversion’s Women in (New) Music series, which explores feminist issues within and beyond the classical music sphere.

Ms. Malloy’s visit to UVA will include workshops with WTJU’s student and community on-air presenters, guest lectures in UVA classes, guest on-air spots on WTJU, and being the final speaker in our classical music speaker series in Spring 2019.

Charlottesville Classical will impact students in at least three ways:

• Program producers. WTJU will hire at least two student workers to produce the radio andmultimedia content for CharlottesvilleClassical.org, under the guidance of WTJU’s staff producer/editor. This will be a terrific opportunity for any student in the music department or otherwise who is interested in learning about and creating professional level public radio content.
• Interview guests. Over the course of the media production, we will profile several UVA student ensembles for the web and radio content, providing them with a platform to share their stories with the University and surrounding communities.
• Event audience. We hope to draw several dozen attendees at each of these classical music conversations. While not intended primarily as a WTJU host recruitment tool, we also hope that student who attend may become interested in hosting classical music radio programs on WTJU.

Charlottesville Classical will primarily impact the community as consumers / audience members. WTJU listeners in Charlottesville and beyond will continue to hear the stories of incredible and talented performers, creators, and scholars – in their own words.

In addition to the general edification of our listening audience, the web and radio content will also serve to promote UVA Music events, bringing more community members to these events.

Charlottesville Classical is already an innovative public media project from WTJU. Further developing its content and reach will serve as an example that other colleges and Universities in the state and country may emulate with their respective student media centers and music outreach programs.

This project will serve two important purposes: 1) the promotion of classical music to young people (especially students) as a vibrant part of the cultural fabric of the University and greater Charlottesville community; and 2) education of students in valuable skills in professional interviewing, recording, and multimedia content production.

WTJU will measure progress against these goals by: 1) monitoring the number of site visits at CharlottesvilleClassical.org and listens to WTJU 91.1 FM, with a goal of reaching at least 1,000 site visits per month and 1,000 on-air listeners each week; and 2) conducting exit interviews with the student producers, assessing the impact of their experience and skills development.

The Arts Council provides advocacy, advice, and support in the Arts at the University of Virginia. It strives to develop and strengthen the bonds of interest and participation among the Arts Departments, their associated programs,  and their alumni and friends; to advocate on their behalf; to advise and assist with communications; and to help raise funds in support of academic programs, facilities, and special events. Among its multitude of arts advocacy efforts, the Council awards annual Arts Council Grants. These grants have, and continue to play an instrumental role in a number of  residencies, workshops, project and research-based endeavors proposed across Arts Grounds annually. This series of articles will highlight each funded project and serve to inform the UVA community of their unique timelines, progress and outcome reports.