The WFMT Radio Network

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The WFMT Radio Network creates, seeks out, and distributes radio programs of importance, depth and beauty to stations serving audiences across the United States and around the world. In addition to syndicating concerts by such renowned orchestras as the Chicago Symphony OrchestraNew York PhilharmonicMilwaukee Symphony OrchestraLos Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, the WFMT Radio Network also makes available signature WFMT shows like Midnight Special with host Marilyn Rea Beyer; Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlinCollector’s Corner with Henry Fogel; and Fiesta! with Elbio Barilari, focusing on the classical music of South America, Spain and Portugal.

And look to the WFMT Radio Network for full seasons of opera from such distinguished companies as Los Angeles Opera On-Air, and the finest operas from Europe through our ongoing partnership with the European Broadcasting Union. We are also an important source for early music, chamber music, jazz and folk, with shows like Early Music NowChamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

Our two celebrated overnight-format satellite services, the classical Beethoven Network with Peter Van De Graff, and Jazz Network with Dee Alexander, Dave Schwan, John Hill, and Jana Lee Ross are recognized as leaders in their field. The music selections are balanced, sophisticated and engaging.

WFMT Radio Network programs have received every major broadcasting award and honor, including the George Foster Peabody Award, Prix Italia and Major Armstrong Award. In its mission to provide highly affordable programming of the highest quality, the WFMT Radio Network brings the best to the world.

Become a WFMT Radio Network Affiliate

The WFMT Radio Network invites stations everywhere to become WFMT Radio Network Affiliates. In addition to access to our high quality, affordable programming, affiliates receive dedicated service from network relations and distribution staff members that understand your needs, regardless of your station’s size or budget. For more information, please call Estlin Usher, Director of the WFMT Network at (773) 279-2112 or at eusher@wfmt.com.

Series

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1158 Pieces

Beethoven Network provides one-hour modules of classical music, culled from WFMT’s extensive library of more than 85,000 recordings. The service was originally designed to help public radio stations expand their local operation and improve the quality of late night programming

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0 Pieces

The California Symphony, under the leadership of Music Director Donato Cabrera, is distinguished by its vibrant concert programs that combine classics alongside American repertoire and works by living composers, and for bringing music to people in new and unconventional settings.

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50 Pieces

Hailed as the number one US Orchestra by the venerable British publication Gramophone, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra continues this quarter with more concerts from Symphony Center, the home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

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52 Pieces

The series includes a broad range of orchestral, vocal, chamber and solo-instrumental music.

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3 Pieces

Three conversations from the Studs Terkel archive featuring the late John Prine.

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46 Pieces

Early Music Now with Sara Schneider is a one-hour program showcasing music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque: from sonorous medieval chant and polyphony to delightful renaissance madrigals, dances, and consort music to magnificent baroque cantatas and keyboard music.

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14 Pieces

Meet all of your fundraising goals with the help of this collection of Exploring Music fundraising programs!

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260 Pieces

Heard on radio stations across the country for more than a decade, Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin is a creative exploration of classical music and other genres. Each week’s programs are unified by compositions that share a central theme, which might be a composer, a period of history, or a musical form. Peabody Award-winning broadcaster Bill McGlaughlin is a broadly experienced musician, conductor, and composer. Bill draws on his background, his love of jazz, and his unmatched musical knowledge to connect recorded examples with engaging commentary. McGlaughlin is an affable, yet erudite musical story teller, whose insights speak to both novice and expert classical music fans. Listeners and program directors have enthusiastically responded to Bill McGlaughlin’s anecdotes and illustrations at the piano, and recently, The Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio (AMPPR) honored Bill McGlaughlin with its Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2011 Public Radio Music Conference. The series is also syndicated internationally, and its universal appeal was recently recognized by listeners in Canberra, Australia, who chose Exploring Music as the recipient of the 2010 Artsound Award for Best Overseas Program. Draw your listeners more fully into the world of classical music and develop new audience members by adding Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin to your program schedule.

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54 Pieces

Fiesta! is an original production devoted to Latino concert music, and brings artistically significant compositions from Latin America, Spain and Portugal to your listeners.

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13 Pieces

The WFMT Radio Network is proud to present Gateways Radio, a collaboration with WXXI-FM in Rochester, NY, celebrating the performances, artists, and artistry of the Gateways Music Festival. The Gateways Music Festival Orchestra is a 125+ member ensemble of musicians of African descent under the leadership of conductor Anthony Parnther. The Orchestra made its stunning Carnegie Hall debut on April 24, 2022 as the first all-Black orchestra to be presented by the famed venue. Gateways Radio features exceptional compositions and exquisite performances, celebrating the Gateways Music Festival’s mission of connecting and supporting classical musicians of African descent and serving as a source of inspiration, enlightenment, and engagement for communities—especially communities underrepresented in classical music.


Latest Pieces

Caption: Ruby Dee, c. 1960, Credit: John Springer Collection/Corbis
Ruby Dee, actress, writer and activist died on June 12 at the age of 91. The WFMT Radio Network is offering this excerpt of Ruby Dee speaking with ...

Bought by PRX Remix and KGNU Community Radio


  • Added: Jun 13, 2014
  • Length: 07:03
  • Purchases: 2
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Maya Angelou discusses growing up in Stamps, Arkansas, and early adulthood experiences as recounted in her recently released autobiography I Know W...

Bought by PRX Demo Station, KAAD-LP, KRDP, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KMUZ and more


  • Added: May 28, 2014
  • Length: 01:04:47
  • Purchases: 27
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Born to Live is Studs Terkel’s remarkable Prix Italia-winning audio collage program (produced with Jim Unrath) that first aired in 1962 and serves ...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WWNO, WCQS, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass. and more


  • Added: May 09, 2014
  • Length: 56:45
  • Purchases: 9
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Episode #3 travels into the realm of memory as Howard Nemerov and Gwendolyn Brooks read poems about childhood and the fleeting nature of time.

Bought by Troy Public Radio, Radio Catskill, RadioFreePalmer, KUPR low power FM, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Apr 18, 2014
  • Length: 14:20
  • Purchases: 17
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Episode #2 takes listeners on several poetry journeys: to Africa with James Baldwin and on an interplanetary rocket-poem trip with Allen Ginsberg a...

Bought by Troy Public Radio, KFCF FM, KUPR low power FM, WNMU-FM, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Apr 17, 2014
  • Length: 21:26
  • Purchases: 17
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Beethoven Network provides one-hour modules of classical music, culled from WFMT’s extensive library of more than 85,000 recordings. The service w...

Bought by Interlochen Public Radio, KTXK, KTEP, Northwest Public Broadcasting, New Hampshire Public Radio and more


  • Added: Apr 16, 2014
  • Length: 59:40
  • Purchases: 6
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Episode #1 explores how poetry enables people to channel the voices of others and features excerpts from Studs Terkel’s interviews with Elma Stucke...

Bought by Troy Public Radio, Radio Catskill, KZMU Moab Community Radio, KISU, KUPR low power FM and more


  • Added: Apr 10, 2014
  • Length: 15:00
  • Purchases: 20
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Studs Terkel interviews Pete Seeger on the culture of folk music. Includes one hour interview and 7 breakout segments from the interview by Studs T...

Bought by KZYX, XRAY.fm, WMMT, KFAI Minneapolis, Radio Newark and more


  • Added: Jan 29, 2014
  • Length: 01:04:39
  • Purchases: 8