Shrinking classical

We want to add our voices to the chorus that is welling all around regarding the changes in format at Maine Public Radio. We, too, have just sent in our yearly contribution to help MPR broadcast what we thought was a wonderful selection of music of all varieties. No sooner was the check in the mail than the announcement was made of the newly trimmed musical schedule.

The daily classical music available on MPR has been shrinking for years, and at the same time, our appetite for this music has been growing. We now have a huge gap in supply and demand. What will we do from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday without music? How will we fill those sometimes gray and dismal winter Saturday afternoons without the opera?

Oh, for the days of morning classical music, seven days a week. We are already in withdrawal on the weekend mornings, and now weekday and Saturday afternoons are removed from the ever-shrinking list.

Donald and Susan Pierce

Brewer

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Why don’t people who have pledged money to public radio, on the basis of their previous classical music and opera scheduling, withdraw their pledges? The title “public radio” is a lie, as it cares only for commercial interests that can pay more than an ordinary person. Florence and Robert Weatherly-Bishop

Hudson