Fight for Your Right to Partitas and Fugues
Nationwide Protest to Raise a Ruckus for Radio Two
Recently, CBC Radio Two has proposed some changes to its schedule. What used to be the go-to resource for classic and contemporary art music is slated to become a more diverse source of everything from "jazz, folk, world, R & B, singer-songwriter and roots" music, with the classical content being relegated to a five hour slot from 10am to 3pm. While the CBC says this is a celebration of our cultural diversity, a large number of the station's loyal fans are furious, and they've organizing a national day of protest to make sure the state-sponsored radio network hears what they have to say.
While one might expect such a group to be spearheaded by residents of a retirement home, it's actually being led by Peter McGillivray, a Toronto man in his early thirties, who set up a Facebook group called "Save Classical Music at the CBC." In a few short weeks, the group has attracted over 13,000 members online, and fueled by this success they've decided to take their protest to the next level: the real world.
The group is now getting organized for tomorrow's nationwide protest, which will target every CBC radio station across the country simultaneously in order to make sure their message gets heard loud and clear. "We're not against pop music or pop musicians and musicians of any genre," says McGillivray. "We just don't know why a public institution has to be destroyed to make room for it all."
If you'd like to add your voice to the local gathering, show up at 250 Front Street West at 12:00 noon on Friday, April 30. For folks living elsewhere, here's the rundown from coast to coast:
- 9am PST: Victoria: 1025 Pandora Avenue
- 9am PST: Vancouver: 775 Cambie Street
- 10am MST: Calgary: 1724 Westmount Blvd. NW
- 10am MST: Edmonton: 23 Edmonton City Centre, 10062-102nd Avenue
- 11am CST: Regina: 2440 Broad Street
- 11am CST: Winnipeg: 541 Portage Avenue
- 11am CST: Thunder Bay: 213 East Miles Street
- 12pm EST: Toronto: 250 Front Street West
- 12pm EST: Sudbury: 15 MacKenzie Street
- 12pm EST: Windsor: 825 Riverside Drive West
- 12pm EST: Ottawa: 181 Queen Street, Ottawa (Meet at Sparks Street entrance)
- 12pm EST: Montreal: 1400 Rene Levesque East
- 1pm AST: Fredericton: 1160 Regent Street
- 1pm AST: Saint John: 560 Main Street
- 1pm AST: Moncton: 250 University Avenue
- 1pm AST: Halifax: 1601 South Park
- 1pm AST: Charlottetown: 430 University Avenue
- 1:30pm NST: St John's: 25 Henry Street
Photo by BlogTO flickr pooler funinthegym
Comments (9)
theres nothing particularly canadian about (most of) the classical music played on radio 2. I'd rather see R3 and R2 switch spots, allowing radio 3 to have the FM station while radio 2 can be relegated to online and satelite radio. R3 is much more 'canadian' and (in my opinion) would serve the cbc much better via FM. the bonus is that this wouldnt cost more really, they'd just have to swap the R3 wire with the R2 wire, i'm sure.
Rajio: I think one of the major bones of contention is that the Canadian portion of the classical programming will suffer. In the past, the CBC has invested a lot in exposing the works of new composers, a service that will be lost with the scheduling change and not likely to be picked up by commercial radio. "Two New Hours" just wouldn't fly on the Mix.
I hear you about Radio 3. I wish it were on FM so I could enjoy it in the car.
Carlos: Thanks. Four years of music school finally pays off.
Though the tech-savvy organizing above sort of belies my point, I would think keeping R3 online has a lot to do with the people who listen to it, ie. the tech-savvy youth. Putting R2 online doesn't make sense since, well, I think they are an older demographic.
That being said, while I hear the need for spaces that encourage the development of -western- classical music, it doesn't represent the diversity of Canada, and moving towards music programming that does is a good idea. This likely doesn't apply outside of Toronto, but with people like Moses Znaimer taking over and promoting classical music on private radio, maybe the CBC decided they could drop the mantel of protector/promoter of classical music because other people were there to pick it up.
And for those want to express their support the change:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10781634634
!
Moses Znaimer is not picking up the mantel for any Canadian music. If we need another station to promote Mozert, Beethoven and Liszt then he's done a great job, but I don't know when or if you'll EVER hear a Canadian on that channel. Which is exactly why we need the CBC - to protect the identity of CANADIAN Classical music.
I hear you steve and yes the tech-savy of R3 and R2's respective demographic is another important factor in this as Danielle points out, but I don't see why we should continue to maintain a classical-only FM radio station nationally when there are so few FM bands available and there is evidently relatively little demand for it. I like classical music and listen to it all the time but if it wasn't online I'm sure I could find other outlets for it. Is there any particular reason why we should be 'protecting' any form of music? Why don't we just broadcast whats most popular/relevant/produced amongst canadian musicians? Why does classical music get this special treatment? I feel like it ought to have to justify it's spot on the playlist just as any other music form. Segregating music by genre is so 1985 anyhow.
Who cares? You can get classical music elsewhere. The CBC is in desperate need of privatization.
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS