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Parker, in studio
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For several years, Parker Prout of Thursday Morning Classics has been sharing the music of J. S. Bach, particularly the secular and sacred cantatas, and describing Bach's liturgical and social significance. Parker will continue his celebration of Bach during the month of March. The German Baroque composer, born March 31, 1685, left a large body of sacred work to posterity and Parker will feature the Passion settings during the Lenten season. On March 1st, he will continue with Part Two of the St. Mark Passion BWV 247 (1731) performed by the Ring Ensemble of Finland, directed by Roy Goodman.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
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Though the St. Matthew's Passion is the most recognized and recorded of the Passions, Parker will air the lesser-known but equally magnificent works throughout the month in anticipation of Easter. On March 8 and 15, he will feature the St. John Passion, performed by the King's College Choir, Cambridge. On March 22 and 29, he will air the St. Luke Passion, performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Tübingen and the Balinger Kantorei. You can hear Parker on WMNR every Thursday from 8:00 am to noon.
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Radio listening has moved from home consoles, to dashboards, to computers, to smartphones and now to smart speakers. These devices are small, voice-activated, internet-enabled speakers like Google Home, or Amazon's Echo or Dot (both of which feature Amazon's digital assistant Alexa), which retail for $30 to $150 and can take on automated tasks of all sorts. One such task is broadcasting WMNR throughout your home with just a brief vocal command.
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Google Home smart speaker in action
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Here at the station, Mark Morton, engineering and IT, installed a Google Home Mini (see video) in our workspace. It (he? she?) responds to the command "Hey Google play WMNR" or "Hey Google play Fine Arts Radio" or "Hey Google play WMNR Fine Arts Radio" by saying "Sure, here's Fine Arts Radio on TuneIn" and immediately broadcasting our music. (TuneIn is an audio streaming service used by smart speakers to provide content.)
Note, there is no static or interference on a smart speaker since you are receiving the station via the internet, not over the airwaves. Of course, as a radio station, we're all about listening but one must adjust to the fact that smart speakers are ALWAYS listening. Also, speak crisply when issuing your commands or you will be listening to "WMMR 93.3FM Everything That Rocks!"
John Babina, WMNR co-founder and volunteer technical director, uses Alexa at home and tells listeners that, like the Google speaker, when he says the phrase "Alexa Play Fine Arts Radio" or "Alex Play WMNR" or "Alex Play WMNR Fine Arts Radio" the system instantly live streams the station's broadcast.
Peter Shimkin of Tuesday Afternoon Classics and Voice & Orchestra listens to WMNR via an Amazon Echo and is pleased with the sound quality of the speaker. Broadcaster H. William Stine uses Alexa at home as well and may even enlist her as a co-host for an upcoming Turntable For One program. Here's hoping Alexa shares Bill's good taste in jazz vocals. As Bill said in the course of our conversation about smart speaker capabilities "what a world... what a world."
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Listener Volunteer Opportunity
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Awaiting volunteers...
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We are looking for phone volunteers for our spring fundraising campaign, held April 20 to 28. If you live within driving distance of our studios at 731 Main Street in Monroe, CT (where there is plentiful, easy, free parking), please consider joining us for a few hours to answer phones when listeners call to contribute to WMNR Fine Arts Radio. A brief on-the-job training will show you all you need to know to greet listeners and write down the information needed to help them make their donation. We have various shifts from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and Dianne Orlando, Membership Coordinator (203-268-9667) can work with your schedule and answer any questions you may have. Your contributions of volunteer time are as meaningful to us as financial contributions! |
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PO Box 920, Monroe, CT 06468 | 203-268-9667
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WMNR is an independent, public classical and fine arts radio station serving Connecticut and New York.
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