# Best classical music radio station?



## PlaySalieri

Radio Orpheo in Russia.
Virtually continuos music - no ads - no news - no pre-piece 20 minute talk.
But you need an internet radio.


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## realdealblues

The only station I listen to is my Local PBS station.

http://www.wkar.org/term/radio-made-michigan

They do play NPR news in the morning but through out the day and through out the night they play classical. I listen to them both in my home and in my car on an actual radio, but at work I listen via their streaming radio. No ads or commercials other than "your listening to wkar" type stuff. Their pre-piece talks are 20 seconds to 1 minute which I always enjoy hearing little tidbits about the work or the composer.


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## PlaySalieri

realdealblues said:


> The only station I listen to is my Local PBS station.
> 
> http://www.wkar.org/term/radio-made-michigan
> 
> They do play NPR news in the morning but through out the day and through out the night they play classical. I listen to them both in my home and in my car on an actual radio, but at work I listen via their streaming radio. No ads or commercials other than "your listening to wkar" type stuff. Their pre-piece talks are 20 seconds to 1 minute which I always enjoy hearing little tidbits about the work or the composer.


Sounds like a good station. How are they funded?


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## realdealblues

It's on the Michigan State University campus in Lansing, MI so I think they get some money from them, but it's primarily viewer and listener donations throughout the year.


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## Itullian

KUSC commercial free 24/7

kusc.org


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## Vaneyes

Itullian said:


> KUSC commercial free 24/7
> 
> kusc.org


Very good. I also listen to WQXR-FM and KING-FM.


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## PetrB

WFMT, 98.7 -- available free 24/7 via internet streaming, is certainly one of the best. Other than one a.m. and one p.m. slot, for commuters, they play entire works without interruption, do not shy away from vocal music, and also live broadcast Dallas Opera, other opera and orchestral programs as well as many recordings.

Have a look, WFMT.com.


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## Lunasong

WDPR, also 24/7 and commercial free. No NPR, no news at all. DJs are extremely informative. Plays a huge variety of music; I think their library has over 9000 CDs. It is locally produced and staffed and also plays a variety of locally-produced programs like rebroadcasts of concerts from five regional professional orchestra/chamber groups and _The Intimate Guitar,_ on the air since 1986. They have an opera broadcast every Saturday afternoon and syndicated programs like Performance Today, the New York Phil, CSO, Concertgebouw in the evenings.
Our station is over 90% locally funded.
You can listen to webcast here.


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## neoshredder

Any other suggestions? I'm looking for whole Symphonies and Concertos played preferably between 1700-1850.


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## Lunasong

Reposting the link for my station WDPR as it has changed.
http://www.discoverclassical.org/

you can check out the playlist for today or any past day to see the variety of music broadcast/webcast.


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## neoshredder

Lunasong said:


> Reposting the link for my station WDPR as it has changed.
> http://www.discoverclassical.org/
> 
> you can check out the playlist for today or any past day to see the variety of music broadcast/webcast.


Listening to it now.


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## spradlig

I have flogged this station dozens of times in this forum, but not in this thread: the classical music service of vpr.net is excellent and ad-free. For good or ill, they play no folk, jazz, etc., and very little news. The only fault I can find with them is that they play no avant-garde music, even by very highly regarded composers (e.g., Varese, for a random example).

I am not familiar enough other stations to claim that I am certain that vpr.net is the best.


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## spradlig

You should be aware that WFMT is a commercial station, unlike some of the others mentioned in this thread.

I'm not saying that a commercial station is necessarily bad, but if you really, really want to avoid commercials, there are some fine non-commercial stations to choose from.



PetrB said:


> WFMT, 98.7 -- available free 24/7 via internet streaming, is certainly one of the best. Other than one a.m. and one p.m. slot, for commuters, they play entire works without interruption, do not shy away from vocal music, and also live broadcast Dallas Opera, other opera and orchestral programs as well as many recordings.
> 
> Have a look, WFMT.com.


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## KenOC

KUSC, operated by the University of Southern California (aka "University of Second Choice") is the "largest" classical station in the US per Wiki. It is almost 100% classical music, no commercials outside of its own pledge drives. Good programming, very much on the conservative side except for some late-night programs. You can stream it from KUSC.org.


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## MJongo

When at work, I listen to WKSU's (Kent State in Ohio) all-classical station on my HD radio. Otherwise, I like to stream KUSC.


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## Rocco

90.9 FM If you're in the Detroit area.


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## RonP

WETA 90.9 FM in Washington, DC plays a decent mix of classical music and also presents recordings of live performances from around the DC area, to include the National Symphony.

WBJC 91.5 FM in Baltimore is a decent station.


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## Jokke

Best non stop classical music radio? -> Klara Continuo! http://apps.vrt.be/radioplayer/player.html?channel=32 :tiphat:


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## alexsar

Venice Classic radio and radio Svizzera classica both on the internet


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## Rachmanijohn

_All Classical_ 89.9 based in Portland, Oregon. Lots of great programs including Performance Today, Live at the Met, etc and also live broadcasts of Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic concerts. Available for web streaming. Check it out.

http://www.allclassical.org/


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## Fried fifer

Clasical KUSC for me. Its the only station I tune to when I have control of a radio. But I find the selection is a bit on the drowsy side... The do have talks about each piece between them but they usually keep them short and the hosts voices are worth listening to haha. I couldn't imagine talking to somebody in person with a voice like that.


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## Headphone Hermit

BBC Radio 3 - and you can listen online, including an extensive collection of past recordings. Their output includes live broadcasts (currently Der Fledermaus live from the Met), documentaries (such as Composer of the Week) and a wonderful series of 'Building a Library' (this week is an unmissable Berlioz Nuits d'ete http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03pd0jz - not that I'd be biased here!)


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## Angeloidus

Sky.fm - there are several channels with classical music like Mostly Classical, Classical Piano Trios, Solo Piano.


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## Flamme

Rachmanijohn said:


> _All Classical_ 89.9 based in Portland, Oregon. Lots of great programs including Performance Today, Live at the Met, etc and also live broadcasts of Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic concerts. Available for web streaming. Check it out.
> 
> http://www.allclassical.org/


Yes, that one is good but im a bit annoyed with frequent breaks where they announce they are financed by donations and asking money from listeners, not o nly them but many US stations i have listened...I know its a way of life for those guys but somehow it spoils things up if it is frequent...


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## eohutchinson

http://www.blackclassicalsounds.com/


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## Pugg

eohutchinson said:


> http://www.blackclassicalsounds.com/


Yes, yes, we do understand it.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

ABC classic FM in Oz


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## neoshredder

I like Calm Radio. They have stations based on one Composer. Listening to Handel on Calm Radio right now.


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## Pugg

neoshredder said:


> I like Calm Radio. They have stations based on one Composer. Listening to Handel on Calm Radio right now.


You have to live in Houston though


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## starthrower

neoshredder said:


> Any other suggestions? I'm looking for whole Symphonies and Concertos played preferably between 1700-1850.


Just about every classical radio station in the country. I'm looking for the ones that play music after 1900, and don't waste airtime with second rate baroque fare. Or a station that does something unusual around the holidays instead of the obligatory Handel's Messiah, and Strauss on New Year's. They're all so predictable and boring.


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## Judith

Love Classic FM. Learnt a lot of different pieces from this radio station!


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## neoshredder

starthrower said:


> Just about every classical radio station in the country. I'm looking for the ones that play music after 1900, and don't waste airtime with second rate baroque fare. Or a station that does something unusual around the holidays instead of the obligatory Handel's Messiah, and Strauss on New Year's. They're all so predictable and boring.


I could make one on Spotify. What you do is find maybe 50 composers similar to Ligeti within that time period. Last.fm has a pretty good system for their similar artist page. Then lookup their top rated works on Amazon. Then add those lists to Spotify.


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## starthrower

50 composers similar to Ligeti? You can't be serious? My point is that classical radio always caters to conservatives and moldy figs, and they want me to give them money.


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## neoshredder

starthrower said:


> 50 composers similar to Ligeti? You can't be serious? My point is that classical radio always caters to conservatives and moldy figs, and they want me to give them money.


Not really similar. More like Contemporaries to Ligeti. Some tonal. Some atonal. Done Ligeti and Messiaen so far. 48 more to go. Lol


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## RobertKC

At the moment I'm listening to http://audiophileclassical.radio.net/


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## hpowders

Wow! Have times changed. When I was growing up in NYC we had WNCN, 104.3 FM. A serious classical music station. Few commercials. Long works. No "excerpts".

One day I woke up, tuned in and heard "Roll over Beethoven". They sold out and became just one of a gazillion rock stations in the area. A very sad day. I knew at that point, my time in NYC would be limited and that I would eventually move away.


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## Pat Fairlea

If you're within earshot of Ireland, try RTE Lyric FM, a favourite with Mrs Pat and I. They play quite a range of music, tending more towards folk and jazz in the evenings, but the range of CM is remarkable and the continuity announcers are relaxed and witty. I cannot imagine that many other broadcasters would play Rautavaara's _Cantus Arcticus_ during the 'travel to work' hour just because it was a snowy day.


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## ldiat

Itullian said:


> KUSC commercial free 24/7
> 
> kusc.org


double no triple like this post!


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## ldiat

also WQED pittsburgh, pa.


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## neoshredder

Would be amazing if a station showed no bias toward any era. Played randomly with full works played. One minute they're playing Boccherini. The next moment, Ligeti.


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## chesapeake bay

neoshredder said:


> Would be amazing if a station showed no bias toward any era. Played randomly with full works played. One minute they're playing Boccherini. The next moment, Ligeti.


try "Davide at MIMIC" on tunein and Radionomy, He plays music from every era and always the full work sometimes even entire CD's.


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## Casebearer

Don't know if it was mentioned yet but you could try the Dutch radio station Concertzender. It has 24/7 live radio streams (that you can also listen to if you missed it) that can be listened to by cable, webradio and app. Apart from that it has 22 theme channels that all broadcast streams 24/7. I can't easily summarize it here, in part because I don't understand all of it myself. It has much to offer in different quality for different devices (up to 256 kbps).

You can find the url's for the 22 theme channels here: http://www.concertzender.nl/ontvangst/streamoverzicht/

Theme channels include almost everything anyone could wish for.


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## pcnog11

There are so many of them on Apple TV, from all Bach to all Beethoven and Brahams.


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## sdadolf

New member thanks you for the good suggestions above. I had a Grace Internet Radio and a few weeks ago it gave up the ghost. After some research I bought a Sangean. It is a nice radio, but was surprised to hear that the service they use to feed the radio injects commercials...commercials that are not coming from the actual station broadcasting the music. Kind of annoying to be listening to a nice German station with great classical selections only to be often interrupted with ads from local US stores like JC Penney, Office Depot, etc. So, I continue to search around for some stations that don't get interrupted. Is that a lost cause witj my Sangean? My favorite so far is the station I started with on my Grace radio...Classical 102. Some commercials, but seemingly fewer than the others.


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## Pugg

Radio 4 in my country, something for everyone.


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