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Ann Fisher
Host, All Sides with Ann Fisher
Ann Fisher is a native of Michigan, where she grew up the middle child of five children and lived mostly around Grand Rapids in western Michigan. She decided to become a journalist in the third grade. In 1989, Ann moved to Columbus to cover state government and politics – including the Lucasville prison riot and its aftermath in 1993. She joined The Columbus Dispatch in 1997. Ann joined the newspaper’s editorial board, writing several unsigned pieces per week and also the occasional personal-opinion piece. In 2000, she moved into middle management as state editor. In late 2005, Ann returned to writing as the metro columnist. She wrote three columns a week and also blogged until April, 2009. Ann joined WOSU in August, 2009. On a personal note, Ann plays the flute, often with local folksinger and Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen. She was a member of Al Smyth’s Free Beer n’ Chicken Coalition blues band for four years. Ann is an avid a hockey mom and hockey fan.
Rich Baker
Host, Bluegrass Ramble
Rich Baker has been a co-host of Bluegrass Ramble since October 1986. Born in Akron, OH, he received his bachelors degree in journalism from Ohio University. His radio experience includes a brief stay as a country DJ at WOUB in Athens (while in college), and a radio show on WFVF-FM in Columbus called the Bluegrass Hot Top Hits Countdown. "I like finding new bluegrass groups and vocalists with a sound firmly rooted in traditional bluegrass," he says. "Bands that bring a fresh approach and a modem sound but don't stray too far from traditional bluegrass." When he's not listening to bluegrass, Baker is the director of corporate communications for Metatec Corporation in Dublin.
Chris Johnston
Host, Bluegrass Ramble
Chris is a Central Ohio native and has worked at various Columbus area radio stations, beginning with high school. He joined WOSU in 1987 as host of a Big Band show. When that show was discontinued, he was asked to continue at the station as a fill-in host for the Bluegrass Ramble. He was made a regular host in 2006. Asked to name a favorite band, he defers saying he has favorite songs--especially instrumentals. During the week, Chris works for Franklin County in the Purchasing Department and is active in Financial Peace classes at his church. He currently resides in Southeast Columbus with his wife Diana.
Steve Brechter
Host, Bluegrass Ramble
Steve Brechter is a native of New Jersey and spent much of his life in Connecticut, where he was involved in bluegrass "just about every way you can be." He played 5-string banjo for over 20 years with the Connecticut-based Grass Routes bluegrass band, promoted bluegrass festivals and concerts, and was a host on WWUH's "UH Radio Bluegrass" program. Steve served as Board Chair and Trustee of the International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) in Owensboro, Kentucky, and was named a Kentucky Colonel by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for his work opening the Museum. Steve moved to Ohio in 2000, loves the Columbus area and enjoys playing the "absolute best in bluegrass music" for the Bluegrass Ramble's dedicated listeners.
Chet DeLong
Host, Bluegrass Ramble
Born in mountain country Kentucky, Chet DeLong has lived in central Ohio for 43 years and been part of WOSU's Bluegrass Ramble since 1990. He grew up listening to Farm and Fun Time on WCYB in Bristol, VA, featuring the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, and Bill Monroe. "I can't recall a time of not being in love with bluegrass music," he says. DeLong has promoted bluegrass shows since the 70s and has attended festivals in many parts of the country. A charter member of the Central Ohio Bluegrass Association, DeLong has performed in the "Plum Mountain Grass" band for many years. DeLong says he loves to play listener requests.
Tom Borgerding (WOSU NPR News)
WOSU NPR News Managing Editor, Reporter
Tom Borgerding has worked in both commercial and public radio newsrooms. He joined WOSU in August of 1985 and currently serves as managing editor and reporter. He has reported stories for regional and national networks. A native of St. Louis, he has strong Midwest tendencies. He lives in northeast Franklin County with his wife, Vicki.
Michael Rathke
Radio Programming Director
Michael Rathke has been Program Director for WOSU AM and FM since December 2006. Previously, Rathke has been Program Director for NPR affiliates WFCR FM in Amherst, MA, the Northwest Public Radio network based in Pullman, WA, and the former WCAL FM in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. Rathke has also worked as Music Director for the New Hampshire Public Radio network based in Concord, NH, Operations Director at WNIN FM in Evansville, IN, and Announcer-Producer at WKMS FM in Murray, KY. Rathke began work in public radio as a classical and jazz music announcer at KFJM FM while a student at the University of North Dakota. Away from work, Rathke enjoys cheering for the Minnesota Twins and has been known to travel hundreds of miles to attend Bruce Springsteen concerts.
Beverley Ervine (WOSU Classical Music)
Music Director
Over twenty years ago, former Program Director Mary Hoffman recruited Beverley Ervine from the Upper Arlington Library, where she was the audio-visual librarian, to fill the newly created, full-time position of Music Librarian for the classical radio station. During this time, Beverley has witnessed the recording library shift from vinyl LPs to CDs to digital downloads, and she moved from typing 3x5 cards for the metal drawer card catalog to helping design WOSU’s first computer program for cataloging their 32,000+ sound recordings. Now, as Music Director, Beverley spends the bulk of her work hours programming the music you hear Boyce, John and Jennifer play and talk about on the air.
Little Known Facts: Beverley shares the same name, and spelling thereof, with the main road running through her home town—Beverley Street. She was a flag twirler in her college marching band, complete with white go-go boots. Past part-time jobs include an “interesting” time in catalog sales for Victoria’s Secret. She met and married her husband, Boyce Lancaster, at the radio station, out on the back patio next to their offices.
Sam Hendren (WOSU NPR News)
News Reporter
Reporter Sam Hendren brought more than two decades of experience to WOSU when he arrived in August of 2005. Born in Tennessee and raised in North Carolina, Hendren began his journalism career at the University of Alabama’s public radio station (also his alma mater). He’s reported extensively from across the Southern U.S., the inter-mountain West and the Great Plains states. His work has appeared on NPR, Marketplace, and the Voice of America. He served as executive producer of the environmental radio magazine High Plains News, based in Billings, MT, and was news director at public station KMUW, in Wichita, KS. Sam is the recipient of many national awards for journalistic excellence.
Boyce Lancaster (WOSU Classical Music)
Host, Boyce Lancaster with the Classics, The Amadeus Deli, Summer with the Pops, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra broadcasts
Boyce was born in Lubbock, TX and grew up in Tulsa, OK. He is an award-winning radio producer who has spent the last 25 years exploring classical music at WOSU-FM. His productions have covered a wide range of topics: Ruby Elzy: Black Diva of the Thirties; Return to Camelot: Music in the Kennedy White House; the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra broadcasts; the Columbus Jazz Orchestra broadcasts; and many short features such as Fridays with George featuring CSO Associate Conductor Albert-George Schram. His interviews include conversations with musicians Hilary Hahn, Evelyn Glennie, Leslie Howard, Michael Feinstein, and Mark O’Connor; composers Joan Tower, Michael Daugherty, Christopher Theofanidis, and John Rutter; and such luminaries as Tony Randall, Johnny Mathis and Henry Mancini.
Little-known facts about Boyce: He was a wrestler in high school; two of his favorite pastimes growing up involved horses...barrel-racing and pole-bending; he thinks chocolate needs a more prominent position in the food pyramid; he owns more cowboy boots than any other kind of footwear.
Christina Morgan (WOSU NPR News)
Host, WOSU NPR News All Things Considered
Christina is the local host and news anchor during WOSU NPR News' afternoon news magazine All Things Considered. Christina has been a part of the WOSU news team for more than two decades. She earned a BA in Journalism & English from Indiana University and an MA in Education from The Ohio State University.
Christopher Purdy (WOSU Classical Music)
Host, Arts Unscripted, Music in Mid-Ohio, Serenata: Adventures with the Art Song, Saturday on Stage
Christopher Purdy remains a New Englander at heart, with strong ties to Manhattan where he lived for many years. But he has strong Columbus ties: his late father-in-law, Wayne Rittenhouse, was the football coach of Central and Northland High Schools in Columbus. Christopher met his wife, Linda Rittenhouse, while they were both working at a food kitchen in New York City. They married in 1989; their daughter Kerry Megan was born in 1990. The family moved to Columbus in 1991. They are still adjusting to the Midwestern lifestyle. A city boy, Purdy maintains that he would be happy to cement over his entire yard…“spare me the lawn mower and the weeds!”
His favorite composers are Monteverdi and Bruckner. An accidental encounter with a beat-up recording of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" at the age of eight changed Purdy's direction from law school or the priesthood to one of classical music and public broadcasting. He was so captivated by the cover art, that he took the recording home, popped it on his battery-operated kiddy record player … and his life changed forever. He still has the recording.
John Rittmeyer (WOSU Classical Music)
Host, John Rittmeyer with the Classics; Symphony at 7
John grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to Columbus to attend OSU where he double majored in English and Photography. He went on to acquire a Masters degree; John’s thesis centered upon the Canadian writer, Robertson Davies. Rittmeyer was drawn to Davies because of his psychological and spiritual themes—interests that have carried through in his music career. Learning to play the guitar in high school, John grew to love all kinds of music, rock ‘n roll first, and then classical music later. As a student, Rittmeyer would often turn on music while he was studying, and he found himself gravitating towards the music of particular eras he was studying. When he began to examine the nineteenth-century Romantic poets, for example, he would play Wagner and other musicians of the Romantic age. “Music has enhanced my experience of literature. The more you listen and the more you read, you begin to recognize the zeitgeist of the era—in different forms and media—and that’s fascinating. I've been getting paid to listen to classical music since 1987, and the experience of music has opened a whole new world of artistic expression to me.”
Marilyn Smith (WOSU NPR News)
Host, WOSU NPR News Morning Edition
Marilyn Smith is the local host of WOSU NPR News' Morning Edition (5am-9am weekdays). She began her career in Broadcast Journalism at WOSU as a graduate intern. Through the years, she has worked as a reporter and producer. She was one of the early hosts of a local hour of Morning Edition. She’s also hosted call-in programs during her years of service at WOSU. Marilyn and her husband have two children.
Mandie Trimble (WOSU NPR news)
News Reporter
Mandie began working at WOSU in August, 2005. A 2004 graduate of the University of Alabama, Mandie also worked as a general assignment reporter for The Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, AL, as well as Alabama Public Radio. Mandie came to really appreciate public radio as an undergraduate student studying television reporting. She began working as a student reporter and anchor for Alabama Public Radio just to gain some experience. But during her two years at APR, she decided public radio’s non-sensationalized style of reporting was the career choice for her. Mandie has won several national and state awards for her reporting.
Mike Thompson (WOSU NPR News)
Director, News and Public Affairs
Host, Columbus on the Record
Mike has worked for WOSU since 2001, gaining the position of news director in 2005.
A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Mike earned a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse University and a Masters in Business Administration from Ohio State University. Mike has worked in radio and television in Massachusetts and Ohio earning numerous awards for enterprise and investigative reporting. Mike and his wife Mary have twins – Madeleine and William.
Amy Juravich (WOSU NPR News)
Midday Host
Amy joined WOSU in September 2007. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from Duquesne University in 2005 with a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in English. It was during college that Amy came to appreciate the values of public radio when she worked as a student news reporter for WDUQ-FM (a Pittsburgh NPR news station). After college Amy moved to Tallahassee, Florida to work as a reporter for WFSU-FM and Florida Public Radio covering capital news for the state. Amy left Florida to marry her high school sweetheart Jonathan Juravich in December 2006. After arriving in Columbus, Amy worked briefly as an Associate Producer at NBC 4 before joining WOSU. Amy has won several journalism awards for her public radio reporting (back then her name was ‘Amy DiFiore’). In her free time, Amy enjoys spending time with Jon, eating out, going to the gym and traveling (she studied in Rome during college).
Julie Amacher
Classical Music Host
Julie Amacher’s desire to introduce others to great music is what led her to radio. She began her professional broadcast career at a station in Sun Prairie, Wisc. She went from rock ‘n’ roll to the Rocky Mountains, where she found her niche in public radio at KUNC in Greeley, Colo. Julie spent 13 years at KUNC, where she managed the announcers and their eclectic music format. During that time, she earned four national awards for best announcer. She joined Classical 24 in 1997.
Scott Blankenship
Classical Music Host
Scott Blankenship started his radio career in college when he began working as a volunteer at a local cable radio station, announcing alternative and new rock music. His love and appreciation of classical music began at public radio station KVNO in Omaha, where he spent 13 years in various on-air and management roles, five of those years as the morning drive-time host. Indications that radio was in his blood go back to age five, when he used a corkboard and a battered phonograph as a make-shift radio studio, his father's Air Force issue flashlight served as his "on air" light. In his spare time, Blankenship is an avid cyclist and amateur playwright with several produced scripts to his credit.
Bob Christiansen
Classical Music Host
A founding voice of Classical 24, Bob Christiansen has managed to combine his knowledge of classical music and history with a sharp wit and a talent for foreign languages into a 38-year radio career. While studying the ramifications of the “Time of Troubles” on the Grand Duchy of Moscow, he led a secret life as the evening man on the Northern Illinois University radio station. He teamed with Bill Morelock in 1987 to create the nationally syndicated Bob and Bill.
Jeff Esworthy
Classical Music Host
Jeff Esworthy has been the overnight host of Classical 24 since 1996. He’s a public radio veteran with more than 20 years behind the microphone, where he’s hosted everything from folk to jazz to progressive rock. A hobbyist musician and collector of instruments from around the world, Jeff has what he describes as a “passable” command of southern string-band music on fiddle and banjo, and he is a long-time student of the classical music of Northern India on instruments such as the sitar, sarangi and tabla.
Ward Jacobson
Classical Music Host
Ward Jacobson has enjoyed a radio career spanning over two decades as a morning show host and sportscaster, as well as producer/host of an interview program where he chatted up both local and national authors, musicians, politicians and newsmakers. He is also a past winner of the prestigious Marconi Award. Jacobson's love of classical music stems from a childhood influenced by his bass-baritone father and piano-teaching mother. While still a college student in Nebraska, he began singing with the Abendmusik Chorus and took part in concert tours to venues as varied as England’s Lincoln Cathedral, the Vatican, Salzburg Cathedral, Auschwitz and Moscow. When not singing, he works to develop his guitar-strumming repertoire.
Valerie Kahler
Classical Music Host
Valerie Kahler came to the Classical 24 team after more than a decade as a classical host and music director at KNAU in Flagstaff, Ariz. She holds a degree in cello performance and plays piano in self-defense, but feels most at home in front of a microphone—as your companion for an evening of classical music, or singing classic tunes in a club.
Gillian Martin
Classical Music Host
Gillian Martin was a music major at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale when her first classical radio career began. Moving from volunteer to student worker to part-time announcer to Music Director at WSIU-FM, she spent six years on-air there before leaving to pursue a graduate degree in theater. After several years of working in theater and arts administration, Gillian got back into broadcasting in 2005 when she joined Minnesota Public Radio's on-air staff part-time. She is delighted to be a part of Classical 24. In her off hours, Gillian thoroughly enjoys a good sing-along, is passionate about nonprofit bookkeeping, and loves to hear smart people debate big questions.
Mindy Ratner
Classical Music Host
Mindy Ratner began her career in public broadcasting following her graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working first for the local public television station and then for Wisconsin Public Radio. She moved on to stations in Cincinnati and Philadelphia before joining Minnesota Public Radio in 1983. In 1998 and '99, Ratner took a leave of absence to work as a music host and producer for China Radio International in Beijing. Her spare time is devoted to international travel; folk, ballroom and contradancing; singing in the Minnesota Chorale; her two cats, and trying to stay ahead of the weeds in her garden.
Lynne Warfel
Classical Music Host
Lynne Warfel returns to a 24-year radio career after a four-year hiatus. In this "Cavorts with Collies" period, she followed her lifelong passion for working with dogs as a trainer and behavior consultant. She started "Good Dog Productions," her in-home dog training business in 2006. Previous to The Dog Mutterer phase, she was one of the first national hosts back in 1995. She was also heard locally on Minnesota Public Radio from 1993-2005. While at MPR in her former incarnation, she hosted the Minnesota High School Music Listening Contest, Echoes of Christmas with the Dale Warland Singers, Sommerfest broadcasts, was a guest narrator with The SPCO and Minnesota Orchestra, and was a frequent guest host on The Morning Show with Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole.
John Zech
Classical Music Host
John Zech got started in broadcasting as a news anchor at his high school’s closed-circuit television station (KRUD). While in school at St. Olaf College, his love of classical music earned him his first “real” radio experience at WCAL-FM. After a dozen years doing virtually everything there was to do at a small public radio station, John crossed over into the private sector, producing and voicing an audio reading program for a major educational publisher, managing multilingual translation projects for an international communications firm, and generally learning what it’s like to work for a living. Having seen the light, John returned to radio in 1992. After deciding his zen garden was too much of a headache, John looks for enlightenment on the tennis court and the billiard table instead.
Jennifer Hambrick (WOSU Classical Music)
Jennifer Hambrick joins WOSU 89.7 FM as a classical music host, Sundays at 1pm. A native of Columbus, Jennifer holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and studied flute performance at the Eastman School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music (London, England), and Northwestern University. Her doctoral research focused on aesthetics of genre in Hector Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette symphony. Jennifer has performed with a number of professional musical ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her journalism recently garnered the prestigious Simon Rockower Award for excellence in feature writing from the American Jewish Press Association. When not writing, performing, or broadcasting, Jennifer spends long hours at the yoga studio and the gym. “WOSU’s classical music broadcasts were integral to my early development as a classical musician, and I’m very excited to help bring classical music to a new generation of WOSU listeners.”
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  Sundays, 7pm, WOSU FM 89.7. From the Top is a weekly, hour-long radio showcase of America's top young classical musicians hosted by acclaimed pianist Christopher O’Riley. more... |
