Kansas Public Radio has a “new” director of classical music. Friday, September 20, was Michael Keelan’s last day as Classical Music Director and Morning Classical host. Michael served KPR well over his four-year stint at the station — bringing exceptional musical knowledge to the morning classical program, expanding the number and variety of in-studio performances, and helping pioneer KPR’s Live Day broadcasts. Filling Michael’s shoes is longtime Evening Classical host and listener favorite Cordelia Brown.
Cordelia brings 40 years of experience in public radio to her new position. She began programming and announcing classical music in 1979, when Radio Kansas in Hutchinson first went on the air. She hosted KANU’s Music by Candlelight in the early 1980s before she left for classical KXTR-FM in Kansas City and later WITF-TV/FM in Harrisburg, Penn. She returned to KANU in 1991 and has been hosting Evening Classical on Kansas Public Radio for several years.
Cordelia’s lifelong passion for classical music is clear: “Every good piece of classical music tells a story. I hope I can help KPR listeners find those stories or meanings within the pieces, which can vary so much depending on the person, the hearing or the performance. And above all, classical music is for everybody, regardless of how much you know or how good your stereo is. It’s just like books or movies or artwork; you just like what you like, and there’s always so much more you can discover.”
Classical music fans can now hear Cordelia every weekday morning from 9 ‘til noon on KPR.