GPB Radio's Spring 2008 Fund Drive

We pause from aspects of our regularly scheduled programming to make sure we can keep paying for it. GPB's fund drive runs from Friday, May 2 through Monday the 12th. During this time, playlist posting will be spotty. (Note: Alan Cooke hosted Midday Music April 30 from WACG; playlist here. Eric Nauert hosted it May 1 from WSVH; list here.)

If you love GPB; if classical music brightens your day; if it helps you get to where you need to be, literally or figuratively - then do your part to support it. Listeners pay for the programs on public radio. Call us at 1-800-222-4788 during your favorite show, or join us at our secure website at any time of day, gpb.org. At gpb.org you can also see suggested levels of membership and all accompanying thank you gifts. Untouched by inflation, basic membership in GPB remains $35. If you value GPB enough to contribute a little bit more, you can opt to receive a thank-you gift. Gifts start with the black matte GPB mug at $45 and include several new classical-themed gifts. Here are a few:

There's Beethoven's Wig: CD at the $65 level. "Zany lyrics set to the greatest hits of classical music provide a fun foundation for classical music that will last a lifetime." Filled with fact and fancy about notable composers and their compositions, it blends "highbrow and hijinks, lunacy and learning." This is the first disc from a Grammy-winning series.

The A to Z of Classical Music is two CDs and a 500-plus-page little book surveying composers and compositions through the centuries, in a tidy Naxos box, at the $75 level. The two-and-a-half hours' worth of selections on the CDs include highlights by Palestrina, Pachelbel, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Dvorak, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Orff, Glass and many more, heavy on hits from the 18th and 19th centuries.

And my personal favorite:

Carnival of the Animals, a CD and hardcover picture book to introduce kids to the orchestra. Camille Saint-Saens' musical menagerie takes us from lions to swans. At the $90 level. By the way, our Classical Combo combines all three of the above - Beethoven's Wig, The A to Z of Classical Music, and Carnival of the Animals - at the $200 level. Also popular is a series of beautiful, glossy cookbooks of complete menus from noted institutions, paired with thematically appropriate CDs, the Menus and Music series. These are available at the $65 level individually (pick Museum Cafes with quartet music or The Opera in Manhattan with Met stars or A Table for Two with jazz). The Menus and Music Combo at $150 nets you all three sets.

But for many listeners, GPB's programming is gift enough. Please contribute at whatever level is comfortable for you. I thank you for supporting Midday Music - and all the programs you love on listener-funded GPB.

-Sarah