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A Petition for Continuing Classic99.com
To/Against/For: To the Rev. Matthew HarrisonThe Rev. Matthew Harrison
Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
St. Louis, Missouri
July 2010
We are honored to write you as you prepare to assume your leadership role as President of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. Congratulations on your new position.
We are former listeners of KFUO-FM, the storied classical music radio ministry which existed for more than two generations in St. Louis. We are people old and young, of many backgrounds, born in different places but brought together by a love of fine music. We have listened to and, yes, been ministered to by the greatest music of all the ages -- from the Renaissance (and before) down to the present time. We have heard the energy of Elizabethan dance music, the spiritual offerings of J. S. Bach, the genius and rollicking good will of W. A. Mozart, the gargantuan talent of Beethoven, the grandeur of Brahms, the ethereal and substantive music of Mahler, and so many others. Composers of Finland, Hungary, Russia, France, Germany, England, and America among many other lands, have been heard in astonishing variety. Many of us have felt drawn closer to the majesty and love of God.
All the music has been hosted by professional and talented program hosts who have brought their own personalities in a continuous presentation of the music of the past for today. The way this has enriched our lives can hardly be described. While ill we have heard the healing touch of music. While joyous we have celebrated Christmas Day accompanied by a vast variety of holiday music. While mourning we have been touched by Faure's Requiem.
The loss we feel is hard to describe. It is not so much like losing a friend, as losing a whole family. While we have and will continue to find other means of listening to great classical music, for now the loss is real and painful. And truly nothing will ever truly replace the special spirit of Classic 99.
It is not our purpose to delve into all the reasons this tragedy (and it is that) has come to be. Yet we can't help wondering why any upstanding institution would allow such a loss to occur. Time and history will doubtless fill in the answers. To say that we respectfully protest this loss, is a given. To say we want this music back on the air, is of course, bedrock.
For now, we ask for your encouragement and support to keep <Classic99.com> alive and well for the foreseeable future. As you can imagine, starting a new classical music station from scratch is not an easy matter and will take some time. In the meantime, we are being greatly enriched by this on-line stream of fine music. May it be available for a good long time to come.
We thank the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod for all the years of support for KFUO-FM. We do not take this dedication lightly and we remember it with fondness. May the regret of us all at our recent loss spur us on to a new dedication as we seek to maintain classical music on the air for the next generations. To this cause we most earnestly solicit your support.
Recent Comments
| Name | Comment | |
| Ken Litton | KFUO FM was a veritable treasure in the cultural life of Missouri, Illinois and beyond and its programming reflected the very best in its genre by virtue of its excellence in classical music presentation, education and cultural enrichment. Please, continue to fund the music ministry of Classic99.com to a world starved for great art offered with the integrity and excellence only Christian programming can bring! | |
| Phil Cole | Bring back Classic 99 to the airwaves. Online streaming is great, but is only a hold over! | |
| Adrian Walker | As a professional violinist in St. Louis since the fall of 1985, I have been enriched by the music of Classic 99 on a daily basis. The loss of local broadcasting of great classical music simply cannot be measured. Along with scores of others, I beg you to continue the internet stream as long as possible. | |
| Chris Grass | I miss Classic 99. They were a great voice for the arts in our community! | |
| Julie and Dale Geissler | We miss Classic 99 every day. At home, we have choices via the Internet, but it doesn't compare to the sense of community we shared when the broadcast was live from our town! | |
| Vern Wayman | I grew up in St. Louis, I have listened to Classic 99 for years. I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed it on a daily basis. I do not enjoy the new format. Please let us have something to enjoy. There were already plenty of Christian rock stations. What a sad loss to the region. | |
| Anne Bewig | 99.1 was the only classical station in St. Louis. Without it, we are ignoring a large part of our musical heritage. | |
| Nancy Summers | Classic 99 has been a mainstay in my life forever. Please reconsider the change in programming. | |
| Annetta Marshall | My son is eleven and he and I have been listening to classic 99 since he was born. There are thousands of rock stations and Christian rock but only one clasical music in St. louis. Is it all about the money? What ever happened to quality and uniqueness? | |
| Elizabeth Purcell | We need Classic 99! |
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