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From:  Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Date:  Fri May 11, 2001  2:10 am
Subject:  My letter about Opera on radio


Dear Vocalist:

I wanted to share with you the letter I have just written to
WETA, the public broadcasting station serving Washington,
DC, concerning broadcast of opera and the Met. I hope my
letter encourages many to do the same, and also to keep the
drums beating so WETA doesn't think we're going to go away
and forget about it.

Peggy



May 10, 2001

Ms. Susan Richmond
Senior Vice President
WETA
2775 South Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22206

Dear Ms. Richmond:

It was very interesting to receive your letter to me dated
May 7, 2001, which reported that "These are tumultuous
times for media companies" and "Independent locally owned
broadcasters like WETA are fast becoming an endangered
species." Funny, I didn't think WETA was owned by anyone.
In fact, I had the silly idea that is was a public
broadcasting institution. Names like "National Public
Radio" and "the Public Broadcasting System" must have given
me the wrong impression.

Be that as it may....The reason I am writing is to inform
you that in spite of your eloquent letter of May 7, 2001,
and your offer of a free Newsweek subscription, I have
decided not to contribute to WETA at this time. However, I
hope this is a temporary state of affairs, and I am going to
tell you the reason for my decision, and under what
circumstances I will change it.

First a little background. On April 30, 2001, it was
apparent that the commercial classical music station in
Washington, DC, WGMS, had stopped playing opera, and this
was confirmed by an article in the Washington Post on May 2
that the station had dropped the Metropolitan Opera and all
opera broadcasting. Of course, this is a privately owned
station, so public opinion, the needs of the community, and
the value of the opera broadcasts are secondary to the need
to make money for the Bonneville Corporation.

I therefore sent an electronic communication to WETA via
your website urging you to at least consider carrying the
Metropolitan Opera and other opera broadcasts to fill what
now is a huge cultural gap in the Washington, DC area. In
return, I got a completely unsatisfactory response from
Connie Hassan, your "Audience Services Coordinator", which
stated, "Program content is always under consideration,
however, there are no plans at this time to introduce any
program changes on WETA FM." This response is
unsatisfactory, because what you should be saying, in my
opinion, is that you are giving serious consideration to
carrying opera broadcasts.

When John Kennedy was elected President in the early 1960's,
Washington, DC was a cultural backwater. He arranged for
the creation of the National Endowment for the Arts, and
before he died, he started the process to create the
National Center for the Performing Arts, now known as the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In the 40
years since, this metropolitan area has become a significant
cultural force in the nation. However, with the loss of
opera broadcasts, the public in the Washington, DC area has
lost an important cultural resource, which even many small
cities and towns in this country have.

Opera may not have mass audience that popular or
semi-classical music and performers have. However, opera is
an enduring art form, for which great artists have created
masterpieces, throughout the ages, and into the present,
from Mozart to Verdi to Stravinsky to Bugs Bunny to John
Corigliano. In fact, it could be argued that opera is now
the most vital classical art form. Companies across the
United States are growing. New opera houses are being
built. Our opera singers are the best in the world, and
many from abroad come here to study and make their artistic
life. New American operas are performed every year.

Washington now has one of the foremost opera singers in the
world running our local opera company, which started less
than 50 years ago on a shoestring. Yet we can't see our way
clear to broadcast the Metropolitan Opera - arguably the
greatest opera company in the world, one that the far more
grandly titled Royal Opera House of Covent Garden has
emulated in recovering from its recent near-demise.

This is a disgrace, and WETA should be ashamed of itself for
not immediately and publicly promising to seriously
consider running the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. When
you do, I will resume my contribution to WETA, and when you
run the broadcasts, I will increase my contribution
substantially. I am confident that many opera fans will
follow me, and you will create thereby many new and loyal
WETA contributors.

Sincerely,

Margaret L. Harrison

--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...


  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
11774 Re: My letter about Opera on radio Karen Mercedes   Fri  5/11/2001   2 KB
11775 Re: My letter about Opera on radio SMSchneider   Fri  5/11/2001   2 KB
11780 Re: My letter about Opera on radio Margaret Harrison   Fri  5/11/2001   2 KB
11787 Re: My letter about Opera on radio michael.chesebro   Fri  5/11/2001   2 KB
11844 Re: My letter about Opera on radio Margaret Harrison   Sat  5/12/2001   2 KB
11845 Re: My letter about Opera on radio Lloyd W. Hanson   Sat  5/12/2001   3 KB
11846 Re: My letter about Opera on radio Lloyd W. Hanson   Sat  5/12/2001   3 KB
11847 Re: My letter about Opera on radio Margaret Harrison   Sat  5/12/2001   3 KB
11857 Re: My letter about Opera on radio Karen Mercedes   Sun  5/13/2001   2 KB

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