Sunday, September 21, 2008

On the air

Today I made my debut as a host for The Yiddish Hour, a radio show broadcast on KBOO 90.7FM, our local community radio station. I didn't mention it beforehand because I was kinda nervous and didn't really want anyone to listen, in case I totally messed up (at KBOO the music program hosts are also engineering the show, so I'm responsible for all the technical stuff as well as the program content).

The Yiddish Hour is hosted by a revolving crew of folks. It was begun 30 years ago by Jack and Reva Falk, along with some other folks, and it's been on the air every Sunday morning at 10 am ever since. Despite its name, the show is not Yiddish-centric; we play anything connected to Jewish music, be it Ashkenazic, Sephardic or whatever. We also do interviews with local folks in the Jewish community, and sometimes read recipes connected to certain holidays (hamentaschen for Purim, for example). We tend to avoid politics and concentrate on culture.

I'm a professionally trained singer and I taught music to groups of kids and adults for 12 years, so being "on" isn't really issue for me, nor is talking into a mike. Hosting a radio show is just another kind of performance. I was more worried that I'd have technical issues with the equipment, since this is all new to me and there's a lot to remember. However, it seems I did fine, two small glitches notwithstanding. The few people I did tell about it said I sounded good, which is always nice to hear. And now I've been bit by the radio bug and am really looking forward to my next show, which will be in two weeks, Sunday, Oct. 5. Interested listeners can tune in locally at 90.7 FM, and you non-Portlanders can listen live online by going to
KBOO's Web site (for reasons of copyright, we cannot podcast our show; you have to listen to it live).

If you can tune in on Oct. 5, I'd love to hear from you. And if you can't, hope you can tune in some other Sunday. I'll try to remember to post when I'll be on next, so stay tuned.

6 comments:

bikelovejones said...

It was great! You have an excellent radio voice and things flowed pretty seamlessly. I wouldn't have known you were a first-timer if you hadn't said so. Let's hear more from you, please.

Anonymous said...

Mazel tov on your debut!

Hope to be able to listen someday. Some of my fondest memories of childhood were listening to the Yiddish Hour (or whatever it was called) in Baltimore with my mother while we cleaned house. No reason not to pass it on.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful show! You were brilliant and I loved your careful, insightful programming. The Linda Hirschhorn/Vocolot piece Pitchu li Sha'arei Tzedek, was especially nice. Kol ha-Kavod!

~Itai

Anonymous said...

Mazel Tov, Liz. What a neat thing to do. We missed your debut, darn it, but will catch you on the 5th of Oct.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your debut! Though I missed it, I have absolutely no doubt that you came across like the absolute professional you are!

Hugs!

Anonymous said...

I can totally see you getting bit by the Radio Bug, and like Spiderwoman, taking on the world. I look forward to streaming the show next time!