My story starts in Detroit, MI, where I grew up playing flute and piano. Fresh out of college, I began my radio career interning for the legendary J.P McCarthy at WJR Radio. Detroit is also where I discovered public radio for the first time, laughing along with Click and Clack from “Car Talk” on Saturday mornings. Their pledge pitches encouraged me to give my first gift to public radio!

Public radio has been my home as an on-air host, content creator, fundraiser and a manager for many years. Please read on for details, and find my full resume here.

Fundraising

I have turned my passion for classical music into a fundraising specialty. I was the Director of National Fundraising for the Classical Public Radio Network – creating powerful on-air fundraising for dozens of classical music stations. I also founded my own fundraising company, Walker Media, to help stations reach over 12,000 new and potential mid/major donors through customized donor gifts and messaging. These efforts combined raised more than $30 million for classical public radio stations.

Community Events

Building relationships with listeners and donors at station-sponsored events is a core strategy of recent years. I have spearheaded CPR Classical’s efforts to be more involved with the classical music community at events by partnering with key presenting organizations like the Colorado Music Festival, the Colorado Symphony, Bravo Vail!, Friends of Chamber Music, the National Repertory Orchestra and others. I’ve built relationships with these organizations and have worked to create sponsorship packages that include hefty on-air promotion time for the presenting organization, and an on-site presence with a host welcome from the stage for us.

Music Education and Advocacy

There is no greater joy for me than advocating for music education. When I became the Program Director for CPR Classical in 2008, one of my first activities was to launch an instrument drive for schools in need. We worked with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation for those first few drives. The Instrument Drive has since become its own non-profit, and every year I write the article and on-air promos for this wonderful organization that has brought music to more than 20,000 Colorado school children.

On-Air Hosting

I am outgoing and passionate about music on the air. Here are some of my defining characteristics as a host:

• I LOVE to meet listeners. I love to go to station events and interact with listeners to find out who they are, what they like and don’t like about the station, and hear their ideas for programming enhancements. I also love to interact with listeners via email, many of whom write with ideas for my daily program, “The Music Room.”

• People who listen to classical music also love other things besides music, and I specialize in connecting with the audience on a human level.

• Learning about music is a core value for classical listeners. People are always surprised to learn that Mozart was alive and writing during the American Revolution, so putting music in the context of the larger history is important to help listeners connect the dots.

• “Show and Tell” is another great way to help listeners hear something specific in the music. Composers borrowing from each other is a time-honored trade, and no one does that better than John Williams. Hear the classical cues that inspired Star Wars.

• Keep it real. Don’t be boring. Tell the story in a way that a non-classical friend would find interesting. Be a friendly companion. Those are my driving mantras every day I go into the studio.

Creative Content Development

In the age of Spotify, it’s imperative to keep the on-air programming fresh and innovative. It’s too easy for a listener to find a different source of music if they get bored with you.

• I created The Music Room in the first days of “stay at home” to give listeners (parents and kids) a break from screen time as they adjusted to staying home. The feature explores music through a daily theme, and since those early days of the pandemic, I have created over 900 themes!
  • Beg, Borrow and Steal
  • Put the Pedal to the Metal
  • Once Upon a Time

• The holidays are a wonderful time for specialty shows! Some of the shows I’ve created include:
  • The annual Carol Countdown is where listeners vote, bracket style, for their favorite carols, and then we count their favorites down on the air. A bonus – voting has been an effective way to add thousands of new emails to our database.
  • The 12 Days of Carols. Twelve “audio postcards” of favorite carols that tell the story behind each one. These are aired throughout the season and then are combined into an hour-long show on Christmas Day.
  • Holiday Pops show. Pops orchestras are at their very best during the holidays. This hour-long show showcases the best holiday pops recordings.