Classical 88.7 KWTU Tulsa
The "new" Classical 88.7
Announcer and program changes prompted by loss of national classical music network
On June 30, the Classical Public Radio Network, a partnership of Colorado Public Radio in Denver and KUSC in Los Angeles, ceased national broadcast operations. Public Radio Tulsa's 88.7 KWTU was an affiliate and much of the programming heard over Classical 88.7 originated from CPRN.
The University of Tulsa is committed to hosting a permanent classical music radio station on the Northeastern Oklahoma airwaves. Public Radio Tulsa spent months searching to find affordable classical programming of the same excellent caliber as what had been heard since KWTU's sign-on in 2004.
Programs that we were sorry to lose included Sacred Classics on Sunday mornings, The Daily Special at noon weekdays, Buried Treasures on weekday evenings, and Modern Masterpieces on Saturday nights. The voice of morning announcer David Rutherford is being missed, as are many other voices heard throughout the day and night.
On July 1, we began timeshifting Colorado Public Radio's evening hours to Tulsa's daytime to able to continue to bring you many of the same hosts you enjoyed listening to over the years. We added Exploring Music at noon to replace the Daily Special.
But doing so was not satisfactory to many listeners, who told us that music programmed for the evening wasn't appropriate during the day. Listeners also said that they would prefer to listen to Exploring Music in the evening when they could listen to the program without interruption. So, on August 18 we moved the evening-formatted music from CPRN back to the overnight hours, moved Exploring Music to 8 pm weekdays, and added new announcers during the day from Minnesota Public Radio's C24 classical music service.
If you're young at heart, don't miss From the Top at 7:00 pm Sunday evenings. This fun and fast-paced NPR program showcases the amazing skills of young classical musicians. It's followed by The MTT Files, hosted by The San Francisco Symphony's charismatic conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas and singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega. Afterward, listen to the fantastic San Francisco Symphony in concert.
Give a listen to our new daily evening program, Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin. If you've ever wanted to know more about the story behind classical compositions, orchestras, or composers, this is the program for you. Bill also hosts St. Paul Sunday at noon on Sundays, where he leisurely chats with musicians who drop into his Minneapolis studio for live performances.
Let us know what you think about this new program lineup. Contact information is at the bottom of this page. Thank you for supporting KWTU 88.7- Northeastern Oklahoma's only full-time classical music radio station.
Frequently Asked Questions
Send your question about our new classical format to answers@publicradiotulsa.org
Where can I find out what just played? That information on your web page is wrong.
A casulty of the loss of CPRN was that nice up-to-the-minute playlist, where you could determine what played and find a link to be able to purchase CDs. Our intrepid web mechanic (neither Click nor Clack, thank goodness) has the hood up and virtual parts are flying everywhere. (No trees have been harmed in the process, but many electrons are being terribly inconvenienced.) Expect to see a correct song-by-song playlist on our web page soon.
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