WUFT-FM to launch local music performance series during holidays

November 17, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — During the upcoming holiday season, WUFT-FM will broadcast live and recorded local music performances on its classical/arts HD2 channel. The University of Florida station will also stream the performances on the Web at wuftfm.org.

“Besides select high school and university ensembles, we’ll also work to capture the professional performances such as the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra and performers from UF Performing Arts,” said Richard Drake, HD2 manager. “We want faculty and students, and we are not restricting the concerts to strictly classical genre.”

Drake says performances of smaller ensembles will be recorded or broadcast live from a Weimer Hall studio and larger groups at their performance sites.

The new series aims to showcase local talent, Drake said. Two concerts by the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra and one by the University of Florida Symphony Orchestra are confirmed and will be featured in the series, according to Drake. He’s also talking with directors at P.K. Yonge, the Gainesville Community Band, Musica Vera and Alachua County high schools. The series will be broadcast later this month and December during the holiday season.

“We intend to make this a regular series throughout the school year,” Drake said. “We want to emphasize cultural diversity, so ensembles will not be restricted to the classical repertoire.”

WUFT-FM, which broadcasts news and public affairs programs on its primary channel, classical/art programming on HD2, and old-time radio on HD3 — is part of the UF College of Journalism and Communications’ newly restructured Division of Multimedia Properties. All three channels are simulcast on WJUF-FM 90.1 in the Nature Coast area.