Karl Haas' Adventures in Good Music Broadcasts Come to an End

TO ACCESS CUES SHEETS FOR THE FINAL
WEEK OF PROGRAMS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE
PROGRAM LIST AND CLICK ON THE TITLES. 

June 29, 2007 at 8:00 PM will mark WCLV’s last broadcast of  Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas.  The station has produced, broadcast and syndicated the program since March 22, 1970.  With the agreement of the Haas family, the station will also cease distributing the program to other radio stations.

At its zenith, Adventures in Good Music brought musical enjoyment to millions of listeners and was for many years the most listened to classical music radio program in the world, carried by hundreds of stations in the United States, Australia, Mexico, Panama and world-wide by Armed Forces Radio.   However, after Karl Haas’ death in February of 2005, the number of stations broadcasting the series in the United States dropped to fewer than 20, and international distribution was restricted to Australia. 

Adventures in Good Music began in 1959 as a daily 10:00 AM one-hour program on WJR, Detroit. This was a radical programming move on the part of the main-line 50,000 watt AM station, but it paid off, as the program generally won its time slot in the ratings.  In 1970, WCLV and Haas teamed up to produce and distribute his programs to radio stations, world wide.

Haas received many awards including two George Foster Peabody Awards and the National Endowment for the Humanities Charles Frankel Award. In 1997, he was the first classical personality to be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Most recently, in 2000, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fine Arts Radio International Awards presented by Missouri Southern State University.

His book Inside Music was published by Doubleday in 1984. It is currently in its 10th reprinting.

Robert Conrad, the President of WCLV, said, "Throughout his broadcasting career, Karl Haas had the knack of informing and delighting his listeners with his vast knowledge of music.  He was a distinguished and beloved broadcaster, leaving a valuable legacy of music appreciation that is unparalleled.   WCLV was also involved in the production and national distribution of  three best- selling compact disc recordings featuring Karl and his commentary: The Story of the Bells,  The Romantic Piano and Song and Dance.  We have been pleased to make Adventures in Good Music available to listeners for over  four decades and are sorry to see this fine series end. The program has been an essential part of WCLV since 1970.

To answer many anticipated questions, the recordings of Karl thousands of programs cannot be sold to the public because of copyright restrictions on the music used in the shows. The Haas family is exploring ways to preserve this treasure trove of musical knowledge and make it available to the public.

For comments from listeners about the end of Adventures in Good Music and Karl Haas, click here
You are invited to send us your reflections on how Karl Haas affected your life to aigm@wclv.com.

During the week of June 25, WCLV listeners will be treated to an Adventures in Good Music “double bill” daily.  Program listings follow. TO ACCESS THE CUE SHEETS FOR THESE PROGRAMS, CLICK ON THE TITLES.