Radio Waves: Classical KUSC to Broadcast on Friday Afternoons from the Beach

CONTACT: Allison Engel 213/740-1927 allison.engel@usc.edu

Listeners often say that Classical KUSC’s music transports them to a happier place, and now it literally will be true. Starting Aug. 23, weekday afternoon announcer Rich Capparela will be broadcasting Fridays from his home studio in Santa Monica, where he has an elevated view of the sparkling Pacific Ocean.

His new show, “KUSC at the Beach,” will serve as an escape to the weekend, said USC Radio vice president Bill Lueth, who oversees programming and came up with the idea. On Fridays, Capparela’s regular 4 – 7 p.m. classical music program will include information about concerts and events taking place over the weekend throughout the Southland. His program’s famed “Classical Anti-Road Rage Melody” will still air at 5 p.m., along with other musical selections and requests.

Classical KUSC’s programs normally are broadcast from studios in the AT&T Building in downtown Los Angeles. For the new show, Capparela will be broadcasting from a professional soundproof studio he had installed in a former bedroom in his 1920s condo. Sitting in the booth, on a clear day he can see the ocean from Palos Verdes on the south to Point Dume on the north. Classical KUSC engineers are using cutting-edge technology to send his broadcast over the Internet instead of over telephone lines.

“The afternoon show with Rich has always been a great way to wind down after a busy day,” said Lueth. “A classical show with that beach frame of mind sounded especially relaxing.”

Said Capparela: “The Pacific is one of L.A.’s greatest assets, and it’s a natural to locate a weekend-oriented show here.”  He continued: “I believe that there is such a thing as classical music, L.A. style. We don’t take ourselves too seriously in this neck of the woods. At the same time, we are in the middle of a dynamic renaissance for classical music here in Southern California, and I hope that ‘KUSC at the Beach’ will help reflect that vibrancy.”

Capparela, one of the best-known classical music radio personalities in the nation, announces concert broadcasts for the Pacific Symphony. He has performed as a narrator for classical pieces at Carnegie Hall and with the Boston Pops.

He also has beach bona fides. Capparela is a regular on the boogie board, has been a scuba instructor and led diving tours to the Caribbean and the Fiji Islands.

Listeners in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita can hear the program at 91.5 FM. In Palm Springs, it is on KPSC at 88.5 FM. The frequency for KDSC in Thousand Oaks is 91.1 FM, and it is 88.7 FM at KQSC in Santa Barbara and 99.7 FM at KESC in Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. Listeners living anywhere else in the world can listen to the sonatas by the sand  — and all of the station’s programming —in a live stream online at kusc.org.
          Classical KUSC is one of the largest and most listened to classic music stations in the country. The listener-supported, nonprofit public station has been on the air for more than 60 years as a broadcast service of the University of Southern California. Classical KUSC is located in downtown Los Angeles and broadcasts hand-picked commercial-free classical performances, expert music commentary and coverage of the arts in Southern California. The station is the broadcast home of the LA Philharmonic, LA Opera, LA Master Chorale, LA Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony and the USC Thornton School of Music, among other Southern California musical institutions.
USC Radio also operates Classical KDFC in San Francisco, which broadcasts as far north as Napa/Sonoma, as far south as the South Bay and Peninsula, and online at kdfc.com. Every week, more than 1 million Californians listen to the two USC Radio classical stations.