A classic celebration returns to WCRB
Many things have changed recently for classical music station WCRB-FM (99.5), but next week one former tradition will be revived. For the first time since 2002, the station will broadcast the Fourth of July fireworks music from the Esplanade, as well as the Boston Pops concert preceding the celebration's colorful finale.
"We're really happy to resume the broadcast," says Mark Edwards, director of programming for the station, which is now owned by Nassau Broadcasting. Adds Laura Carlo, WCRB's regular morning host, who will be cohosting the fireworks music with Edwards: "It's just so lovely to be asked back."
The past few years had witnessed a disruption in the radio tradition. In 2003, the station (then owned by Charles River Broadcasting and broadcasting at 102.5) carried the Boston Pops concert, as it had for the previous 44 years. But due to disagreements with the celebration's management over fees, it ceded the fireworks music that followed to CBS-owned WBZ-AM (1030) and Emerson College station WERS-FM (88.9). That marked the end of a 20-year tradition of continuing the holiday's broadcast through the music-coordinated fireworks display.
This year, WBZ will again carry the concert and fireworks music on the AM band. (WBZ-TV, Channel 4, will televise the event.) But WCRB is back and will make the broadcast the focal point of an Americana-themed day. Starting at 10 a.m., the station will be broadcasting from the Esplanade, with hosts on site. The day will focus on American composers, says Carlo. "Everything from Sousa marches to Aaron Copland," she says. The music will go live with the Pops concert, which is scheduled to run 8:30-10:30 p.m., and will give way to the fireworks at approximately 10:30 .
The return is being celebrated at the station, even if it is a bit rushed, as a pleasant surprise. Edwards says that a few weeks ago, the management company, David Mugar's Boston 4 Celebrations , queried the station's new management about handling the FM broadcast.
"The organizers asked if we would consider being part of the celebration again this year," Edwards recalls. "And we said, 'Are you kidding?' "
The broadcast, he notes, isn't easy. Although the station regularly carries Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops concerts from Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, it has no permanent Esplanade sound booth. But calling the project "a team effort," Edwards says, "you'd be surprised what you can accomplish when you want to."
Although the station's engineers may have the lion's share of the work, Carlo says even the air staff have prep work to do. "We're all good friends with Keith Lockhart, and there are going to be about 500 phone calls made," says the host. "We do research on what pieces are going to be performed that night so we can do some good background, certainly on whoever the soloists are and if there are going to be any speakers. It just rounds it out a little bit for the audience."
Carlo, who will close the evening with Edwards, expects to be up at 3 the next morning to start her regular four-hour shift at 6 a.m. But for this one night, she says, she has no regrets. "We originated the Pops broadcast a bazillion years ago," she says. "So this is a nice homecoming for us."
