Prominent Music Commentator MaryAnn Bonino Returns to Classical KUSC
Los Angeles — On Sunday, December 28, at 7:00 a.m., MaryAnn Bonino returns to KUSC 91.5 FM as host of the new weekly series Sunday Music. Bonino has brought classical music to life for audiences of all ages as a concert producer, public speaker and radio/TV host. As a past member of the KUSC family, Bonino produced and announced several weekly series from 1979 to 1989. Bonino is currently professor-at-large emeritus at Mount St. Mary’s College, the founding artistic director emeritus of the Da Camera Society and creator of its Chamber Music in Historic Sites series. She is also the curator of the Doheny Mansion and recently published The Doheny Mansion: A Biography of a Home.
Each weekend, Sunday Music will feature a classic repertoire specially chosen for Sunday morning, a time of relaxation and reflection. MaryAnn adds, “Celebrating the spirit in all its many manifestations, Sunday Music will mark seasons and anniversaries, conjure up the glories of the past, and get you ready for the week ahead.”
“We warmly welcome Mary Ann back into the KUSC family,” said KUSC President Brenda Barnes. “We are so fortunate to have her expertise on board. And most importantly, our listeners will be the beneficiaries of this talented professional.”
KUSC Program Director Gail Eichenthal will work with Bonino in broadening and enriching the Sunday Music format. “MaryAnn is one of the most engaging and brilliant music commentators I’ve ever heard. Her passion for and knowledge of the sacred music repertoire of the past 600 years will greatly enhance the program.”
About MaryAnn Bonino
Dr. MaryAnn Bonino has brought classical music to life for audiences of all ages as the producer of innovative concert experiences, as a public speaker, and as a radio and TV host and producer. She received her doctorate in musicology from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music and is currently professor-at-large emeritus at Mount St. Mary’s College and curator of the Doheny Mansion.
As the founding artistic director of the Da Camera Society, Bonino developed the creative format for a new type of concert experience. Internationally recognized for its excellence and creativity, Chamber Music in Historic Sites has been praised for giving music “the sense of discovery and fun it so richly deserves.” Since 1980, the series has extended its reach from Los Angeles to San Diego, Riverside to Saugus, and Mount Wilson to Catalina Island, presenting music in places ranging from train stations, merry-go-rounds and planetariums to car dealerships, churches and temples, museums, ballrooms and mansions — buildings designed by prestigious architects from Frank Lloyd Wright to Frank Gehry.
In January 2009, she will return as the program producer/host of Sunday Music at Classical KUSC, where she produced and announced several series of weekly programs from 1979 to 1989.
A popular speaker on music and the arts, she was selected by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1989 to inaugurate its Upbeat Live! series of pre-concert lectures, and continued as a speaker for many years. She has also lectured on a diverse array of topics for the Los Angeles Opera, the Long Beach Opera, USC Town and Gown, and others.
A former Fulbright Fellow and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Bonino had her doctoral dissertation on 17th century composer Severo Bonini published by Brigham Young University Press in 1979 (it is now available, in part, on the Web). In 2008, she published The Doheny Mansion: A Biography of a Home.
Honored for her contributions to the cultural life of Los Angeles, Bonino has been a recipient of the USC Thornton School of Music’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, a Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award and the Downtown Breakfast Club’s Rose Award.
About Classical KUSC
Classical KUSC is the largest nonprofit classical music station in the country, and the most listened-to public radio station in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The station is dedicated to preserving classical music as a living art. Located in downtown Los Angeles, Classical KUSC uses digital transmission technology to broadcast commercial-free uninterrupted classical performances. The nonprofit, listener-supported station has been broadcasting for more than 60 years. The station is a broadcast service of the University of Southern California at 91.5 KUSC in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, 88.5 KPSC in Palm Springs, 91.l KDSC in Thousand Oaks, and 88.7 KQSC in Santa Barbara. For more information, please visit www.kusc.org.
Contact: Sarah Vinnedge at (213) 225-7400
