In this issue: Dallas Opera’s Opening Night • Historic Fort Worth’s Charity Design Showcase • Beethoven and Mythmaking
Dallas / Fort Worth • wrr101.com
WRR Classical 101.1 FM
Broadcasting in all-digital
The Official Publication of WRR
November 2008
Art Matters at 20
photo by: Roger Mallison
On Oct. 23, 1988, WRR aired a new program, Art Matters, hosted by Quin Mathews, Sharon Benge and now Dallas Morning News
Sharon Benge, co-host of WRR’s Art Matters, interviews Sculptor Jonathan Borofsky during the installation of his Man With Briefcase in Fort Worth’s Burnett Park.
entertainment writer Lawson Taitte. Twenty years later, this awarding winning program is one of the station’s most popular features. Mathews and Benge continue to host Art Matters on WRR. This 30-minute weekly program focuses on the arts in North Texas and has introduced listeners to over 2000 wellknown and emerging artists, musicians, and performers. “It started with a conversation with Suzanne Lasko, who was then the director of the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County. She had an idea that there could be more coverage of the arts in Dallas/ Fort Worth,” says Benge. Mathews adds, “The station had just strengthened its signal and for the first time could reach Fort Worth and the entire North Texas area clearly. It was a good time to focus on the arts in both cities.” With their impeccable credentials, Mathews and Benge cover the arts in Texas with great panache. Mathews owns a film production studio in Dallas, where he also produces the weekly installments of Art Matters.
WRR’s Web site turns 10!
Casa Mañana at 50 Fort Worth’s best-known stage Casa Mañana translates as “House of Tomorrow.” But there’s also a storied past to that old silver-domed theater, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Casa Mañana had a number of homes through the 20th century, from Billy Rose’s original 1936 amphitheater to downtown Fort Worth’s Casa in the Square in the 1990s and now Bass Hall, where Casa Mañana currently presents several of its 20 productions a year. But that geodesic building in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District (sometimes known as “Jiffy Pop” for its aluminum underside) is what people know Casa Mañana for best — and for launching the careers of so many Broadway performers, including Fort Worth native Betty Buckley. Last summer, Casa Mañana celebrated its 50th birthday with a Broadway musical revue, performances by Casa Kids and a carnival. Meanwhile, the theater has changed leadership. In April, Denton Yockey, the president and executive producer of Casa Mañana for 10 years, accepted a new position with Starlight Theatre Association in Kansas City. Casa Mañana recently named William “Wally” Jones as its new president. The 45-year-old Jones has served as executive director and producer of the North Carolina Theatre in Raleigh, N.C., since 2003. If you want to relive the experience of seeing a show at Casa Mañana this fall, consider the theater’s Children’s Playhouse series which presents “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” from Nov. 21 through Dec. 21. Or else, there is Casa Mañana’s “Broadway at the Bass” series which presents “Stomp” from Nov. 11-16 and “Annie” from Dec. 23-28. For more information, call 817332-2272 or go to www.casamanana.org
• November 2008
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Quin Mathews at the Meadows Museum Benge is head of the theater department at Texas Women’s University. She worked on the opening of Dallas Theater Center and founded Shakespeare in the Park in Fort Worth. Last year, Art Matters was a finalist for a New York Festivals International Radio Programming and Promotion Award in the Magazine Format category and this year Mathews was honored with a Dallas Contemporary Legends 2008 Award. New episodes of Art Matters may be heard at 4 p.m. on Sundays with a re-broadcast Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. Past episodes can be found at wrr101.com in Podcasts.
As a pioneer in radio for nearly nine decades, WRR embarked on a wacky new adventure 10 years ago taking the classical radio station where practically no other radio station had traveled…the World Wide Web. After a chance meeting with an enthusiastic young man in a T-shirt and blue jeans named Mark Cuban, WRR’s general manager Greg Davis acquired something called a “domain name” and posted a simple image with station contact information on the World Wide Web. That same year, Google announced its own Web site. Yes, it was unknown times then and few could understand why radio would even be interested in the Internet. But, WRR has always been visionary and on the cutting edge of broadcasting. A decade later, no one can argue that it wasn’t a savvy decision. Mark Cuban, chairman of HD Net, the world’s first all high definition television network; Dallas Mavericks owner; and co-founder of one of the first internet companies, broadcast. com, said, “I owe a lot to WRR. As one of broadcast.com’s first streaming stations back in 1998, together we opened the door for classical music fans to enjoy WRR, not just in Dallas, but around the world. I remember getting emails from fans from every corner of the globe and in cities across America thanking us. Congrats on 10 years WRR. You were a trendsetter then and continue to be now.” WRR’s homepage in December 1998 consisted of its logo centered on a black background and a “Click to Listen” button, but it soon grew into a feature-rich website for the North Texas arts community and the world. In 2000, WRR’s Web site won a MARCOM award of distinction for Excellence in Marketing and Communications. WRR’s Web site got its first facelift in 2001. In addition to station favorites like Playlist, Streaming Audio and the Arts Calendar, WRR added a search engine, an e-mail update and an online store. Radio Ink Magazine called wrr101.com the Best Radio Web site in 2003. WRR’s site saw another award-winning design change in 2005 and received a Platinum MARCOM award in 2007 for its homepage. Today fresh from a 2008 redesign created by dib creative, the station’s site continues to share classical music with the world and continues to keep up with technology and listeners’ requests, such as streaming audio to the iPhone or video feeds from events and broadcasts. Stay tuned as new features are added to keep one of the oldest radio stations in the country at the forefront of technology.
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