Effective November 11, 2011, WDAV will begin distributing the popular program World of Opera, which had previously been distributed by NPR. Listeners’ experience of the show will be unchanged: World of Opera will continue to feature the same high-quality operas from European and American opera houses, and Lisa Simeone will continue as host. World of Opera, carried by some 60 public radio stations across the nation, is the only radio show in America devoted to broadcasting full-length operas captured in performance from around the world. Productions from La Scala, Bayreuth, Vienna, Paris and Geneva regularly grace World of Opera’s airwaves, as well as performances from great American opera companies, including Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass, Santa Fe and New York City Opera.
46 thoughts on “WDAV to Distribute World of Opera”
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Bravo for standing by Lisa Simeone. I haven’t yet spoken to anybody who isn’t outraged by this affair.
Thank you WDAV. Ms Simeone is an excellent host. I’ve learned much from her.
thank you for agreeing to distribute world of opera. i LOVE lisa simeone and wouldnt trade her. she makes opera more fun and informative and i thank her for sharing her enthusiasm and passion for opera with us.
I’m dletghied that WDAV has stood behind Lisa, who pretty clearly, according to Soundprint/NPR, in their unclear way have truckled under to demands that are more important to them than civil society, both at large and in-house.’ They’ve heard only the more famous phrase, and have not understood the armature, the foundation, that allows that dreaded phrase to survive, and needs no repeating here. I prefer Thomas Jefferson on business, here via Charles Dickens, rather than the atrocious Coolidge blurb: Business!? Mankind is my business! Can we change the hated phrase for a new way? What if the business of America were something other than just business’?Thank you, WDAV in your continuing support of Lisa Simeone!
Bravo! Congratulations WDAV, for doing the right thing. Ms. Simeone is a knowledgeable, intelligent and charming host of a *music* program. She keeps her non-operatic views out of the show, so NPR’s decision is baffling. My beloved NPR screwed up again with a personnel issue. Someone needs to get fired, but it’s not Lisa.
Our local NPR stations don’t seem to carry the show, but I applaud your decision to resist NPR’s absurd blackmail. I would like to make a contribution to your program. Please post a way to do so on the blog.
LC – Here’s a link to our online giving page: http://www.wdav.org/13_40_0.cfm
Or you can call our offices during biz hours at 1-877-333-8990. And if you want to hear World of Opera, we air the show on Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. You can come to wdav.org and listen live then. Other stations around the country play it at other times, and you can probably listen online to their broadcasts of the show too. Find stations on the World of Opera site here: http://www.npr.org/templates/stations/schedule/?prgId=36
We do appreciate your encouragement and support, LC!
Since NPR has stopped distributing World of Opera, I would expect that the link to the broadcast schedule through them would go away in the foreseeable future.
I am sure that there is more to the story, but the the actions of WDAV, and NPR seem to bear out the vsroien of the story that has been most widely reported. I won’t say that I’ll stop listening to NPR. It is still far more balanced than most other media, but the weights keep getting put on the mistrust side of the scales. Congratulations to WDAV for its ethical stance. I can’t afford much, but I’m going to your donations page to make my thanks tangible.
Thank you so very much for standing by Lisa Simeone. We don’t get World of Opera in our listening area, but now I wish we did. Like other comments have said, we’re all outraged and bewildered by NPR’s cowardliness and completely baffling decision.
Thank you for taking a principled stand WDAV! Loyalty and simple decency seem in short supply these days. It’s refreshing to find an abundance of both at WDAV. I found your streaming service through all this mess and that as well as discovering your common decency are the silver linings to the whole sordid affair. Thanks again.
Thank you for standing up for a citizens right to free speech. You will be getting the public radio contributions I have been giving to that other station from now on.
Times change. People and iusoitntitns learn from their mistakes. What may seem to be an unfair decision at one moment takes on a different perspective when viewed through the (distorting?) lens of time and history. I had heard of these matters concerning WDAV, but at the same time I’ve heard many horror stories, some from the past and some contemporary, about the pressures on college radio as money becomes tight and the media universe expands, contracts, and changes.Despite what may have happened in the past, give WDAV credit for doing the right thing in this instance. As a long-time listener and supporter of NPR I am appalled at the changes that they have made over the past decade as they seek to avoid any controversy with the kooks . After all of their compromises, as far as I’m concerned they are best left to rot on the vine. If they cannot exist without government money, and they are willing to whore themselves for the whims of the Limbaughs and Becks of the world, then let them die. Something else will fill the vacuum.
It is a consequence of public figures publicly weighing in on political issues. I’m glad NPR sees this, but am glad that Lisa’s program will be allowed to stand on it’s own.
Thank you WDAV for supporting Ms. Simeone and keeping her on as host. I listen to and enjoy World of Opera. This show is completely non-political and I have never heard Ms. Simeone introduce commentary that was even remotely political into the program. I am extremely disappointed in NPR for their action. Please keep up the good work, your station as a valuable asset to our community!
I do not listen to Ms. Simeone’s prrgoam on NPR, but I was outraged to read about NPR’s attempt to have her canned. Sadly, NPR has lost its way as a PUBLIC radio service and now obsequiously bows to the wishes of its corporate sponsorship and congressional right wingers. Ms. Simeone was exercising her 1st-amendment rights as a US citizen. I have complained to both NPR and my representative in Congress, Rep. Nancy Pelosi. I hope others will continue to do the same and put the heat on NPR’s management.Thank you for retaining Ms. Simeone and standing up to National Corporate Radio!
Good on ya! This is the right thing to do. To the commenter that says that the NPR action against Lisa is puzzling, I will remind you that this is a media outlet that actually presented the ideas of Newt Gingrich as if he had something to contribute to our national conversation.
They will NEVER get another penny of my money. As for me, I guess I owe you $100 as I promised. As I am unemployed I’ll have to go on the installment plan, but you got it! Thanks again for standing up for Lisa and her rights, and for ALL of us.
I’m stunned by NPR’s knee-jerk reaction — and I’m a Tea Party conservative and NPR listener. What do political activities have to do with an opera show? I love NPR for its cultural contributions and world-wide reporting. And it strives to be more balanced than national TV networks. But these irrational actions just annoy the hell out of me. I’ll be contributing directly to WDAV —
signed —
a far away supporter
It’s ironic that Fox News is responsible for turning us on to WDAV and your clear-headed, positive support for Ms. Simeone. I am bookmarking WDAV for all Opera listening and when the decision to support public radio is made, WDAV will be at the top of our list.
s
As a Davidson grad (1969), I am proud of your decision on World of Opera. I will be adding WDAV to my annual contribution to Davidson.
Ken Wallace
Bisbee, AZ
Bravo again for standing up to NPR. I am sending a contribution and I don’t even like opera.
Bravo World of Opera!
Thanks to WDAV GM Scott Nolan and Davidson College President Dr. Carol Quillen for defending freedom of (unpopular) expression and Lisa Simeone’s right to free speech and the right to peaceably assembly in particular. Standing firm against NPR’s half baked overreaction is the right thing to do. Courage to protect the voices of dissent is in short supply these days and it is often too easy to go along to get along. I’m proud Davidson College and WDAV remain a conduit for this vital liberty.
My hope is that World of Opera’s 60 public radio stations will continue to host this program in solidarity with WDAV. Perhaps the NPR affiliates can help keep the “public” in National Public Radio in spite of what the parent organization does to kow-tow to their corporate sponsors.
Ironic news.
The FCC’s original authorization for WDAV was as a 10 Watt student-run station, as I understood it when I first walked into the booth in the basement of the old Union. We student disc jockeys and managers felt proud to work there when it went stereo to a broader audience in the late 1970s. Between station breaks (“WDAV-Stereo, Davidson North Carolina”), we played classical music, as well as rock, blues, jazz, and what today we’d call world music for the campus and the Piedmont.
Then, despite repeated assurances to the contrary, the administration expropriated the student station. They locked the doors one day without notice, leaving no alternative option for student participation. No justice for us.
Today, I learned WDAV is a force for justice in preserving Simeone’s space on the airwaves and in world-wide streaming.
¿Bravo?
Times change. People and institutions learn from their mistakes. What may seem to be an unfair decision at one moment takes on a different perspective when viewed through the (distorting?) lens of time and history. I had heard of these matters concerning WDAV, but at the same time I’ve heard many horror stories, some from the past and some contemporary, about the pressures on “college radio” as money becomes tight and the media universe expands, contracts, and changes.
Despite what may have happened in the past, give WDAV credit for doing the right thing in this instance. As a long-time listener and supporter of NPR I am appalled at the changes that they have made over the past decade as they seek to avoid any controversy with the “kooks”. After all of their compromises, as far as I’m concerned they are best left to rot on the vine. If they cannot exist without government money, and they are willing to whore themselves for the whims of the Limbaughs and Becks of the world, then let them die. Something else will fill the vacuum.
All of that is accurate. But it’s also 33 years in the past. I remember it — was there at the time, in fact. But Sam Spencer is long gone, and the decision makers now, different people in a different time, are doing the right thing. We can remember and learn from the past without being churlish about the good things happening in the present.
I’m dletghied that WDAV has stood bnehid Lisa, who pretty clearly, according to Soundprint/NPR, in their unclear way have truckled under to demands that are more important to them than civil society, both at large and in-house.’ They’ve heard only the more famous phrase, and have not understood the armature, the foundation, that allows that dreaded phrase to survive, and needs no repeating here. I prefer Thomas Jefferson on business, here via Charles Dickens, rather than the atrocious Coolidge blurb: Business!? Mankind is my business! Can we change the hated phrase for a new way? What if the business of America were something other than just business’?Thank you, WDAV in your continuing support of Lisa Simeone!
I do not listen to Ms. Simeone’s program on NPR, but I was outraged to read about NPR’s attempt to have her canned. Sadly, NPR has lost its way as a PUBLIC radio service and now obsequiously bows to the wishes of its corporate sponsorship and congressional right wingers. Ms. Simeone was exercising her 1st-amendment rights as a US citizen. I have complained to both NPR and my representative in Congress, Rep. Nancy Pelosi. I hope others will continue to do the same and put the heat on NPR’s management.
Thank you for retaining Ms. Simeone and standing up to National Corporate Radio!
I am happy to learn of your existence and to become a member, if only online. NPR has done you a great favor and themselves (and what they supposedly represent) a great disservice. They have lost this listener (sorry, Teri) but I’m happy to join with you – keep up the great work, and keep standing firm.
What a class act.
I came over here to give you guys support and to listen to what you have on offer. I will NEVER turn on NPR again after this.
Good for you, standing up to them and good for Lisa Simeone for doing what she believes is right.
Thank you for standing up for freedom of speech and assembly.
I feel this was the correct decision. The focus should always be on the music. Everthing else is just noise. However, if this host ever does allow politics to intrude on the programming, she should be dropped like a hot potato.
Thanks WDAV, for standing up for the rights of Ms Simeone to be political OUTSIDE her World of Opera show. You’re doing what NPR refuses to do – stand up for the rights of its own non-employee contributors! Thanks again.
Another great day to be a Wildcat!
Thank you for your courage and integrity. Your resistance to NPR’s cowardly McCarthyism is inspiring. And please convey to Ms. Simeone that this Baltimorean is extremely proud of her. (And as a lawyer, I think she has an intentional interference with contract claim against NPR for its cancellation of World of Opera because she is the host.)
Ironic news. The FCC’s original auothrization for WDAV was as a 10 Watt student-run station, as I understood it when I first walked into the booth in the basement of the old Union. We student disc jockeys and managers felt proud to work there when it went stereo to a broader audience in the late 1970s. Between station breaks ( WDAV-Stereo, Davidson North Carolina ), we played classical music, as well as rock, blues, jazz, and what today we’d call world music for the campus and the Piedmont. Then, despite repeated assurances to the contrary, the administration expropriated the student station. They locked the doors one day without notice, leaving no alternative option for student participation. No justice for us.Today, I learned WDAV is a force for justice in preserving Simeone’s space on the airwaves and in world-wide streaming. bfBravo?
Thank you, WDAV, for doing the right thing in this unfortunate situation. I’ve added myself to what I’m sure is a quickly-growing list of first-time contributors to your station.
World of Opera is the highlight of my week. Thanks for keeping Lisa Simeone on the air!
And my comment about the situation: isn’t all of NPR a megaphone for Occupy Wall Street? Why single out Ms. Simeone when she hosts a cultural program, and not Renée Montagne, Steve Inskeep or any of the other NPR hosts who are praising OWS to the skies?!
Thanks WDAV!
I am sure that there is more to the story, but the the actions of WDAV, and NPR seem to bear out the version of the story that has been most widely reported.
I won’t say that I’ll stop listening to NPR. It is still far more balanced than most other media, but the weights keep getting put on the mistrust side of the scales.
Congratulations to WDAV for its ethical stance. I can’t afford much, but I’m going to your donations page to make my thanks tangible.
This comes as great news and a fair decision on your part, which I hope will be well and widely recognized as that. Hope it goes well for all concerned.
I did not know about “World of Opera” airing full length operas until now. Do you air in California (Santa Barbara)? I would subscribe because I enjoy Opera and because I support Ms. Simeone and any organization brave enough to stand up to corporate McCarthyism such as NPR displays. I am not subscribing to NPR anymore because they are as bad as any other commercial station. Please email me if there is a way I can subscribe to your station in Santa Barbara California…maybe through KPFK?
Nice going. My guess is that even the most politically extreme, unethical radio host wouldn’t be able to do much for his/her agenda hosting a show about opera.
NPR seems to be caught in the worst of both the public and corporate mentalities. I still can’t get over their treatment of Bob Edwards.
I’m not surprised at the action of National Pro-corporate Radio – I knew their mission was different from mine (what a delicious phrase!) several years ago, when they interviewed Bush Gang flunkie/law professor John Yoo about his pro-torture opinions with a straight face, without presenting any opposing views.
Lisa Simeone, on the other hand, shows a commitment to truth, justice, and the human way. Good for her, and for WDAV.
So….NPR throws thousands of opera lovers under the bus in order to make their spineless, misguided point? All I need to know is how can I get WDAV here at my house in SC? ANY technological help will be appreciated. I have been listening to opera all of my life…starting with the Texaco Opera, long, long ago. I have also contributed to NPR for as long as I can remember. My eyes are now open…and, IF I can get WDAV here at my house, I’ll be sending my NPR funds to you!
Good for WDAV for standing up for its person and program. I hope you have seen Jim Reel’s blog posting “Cue” at KUAT (University of Arizona) in support.
Bravo World of Opera!Thanks to WDAV GM Scott Nolan and Davidson College President Dr. Carol Quillen for defending fedoerm of (unpopular) expression and Lisa Simeone’s right to free speech and the right to peaceably assembly in particular. Standing firm against NPR’s half baked overreaction is the right thing to do. Courage to protect the voices of dissent is in short supply these days and it is often too easy to go along to get along. I’m proud Davidson College and WDAV remain a conduit for this vital liberty.My hope is that World of Opera’s 60 public radio stations will continue to host this program in solidarity with WDAV. Perhaps the NPR affiliates can help keep the public in National Public Radio in spite of what the parent organization does to kow-tow to their corporate sponsors.
World of Opera is also the high point of my week. I could listen to opera music in many places but my choice is Lisa’s program. I thought I was pretty knowledgable about opera but always learn something every time I listen. It too is the highlight of my Saturday.