Takoma Radio has graduated the URadio Class of 2018!

URadio - a free, year-long audio training program - is our first youth media program for teenagers led by Project Manager Desiree Bayonet and Curriculum Developer Denise Jones of the Brass Ring Company.

The students learned how to conduct interviews and produce audio pieces, and classes incorporated storytelling and life skills studies. Students were invited into the WOWD studio to present their final audio pieces live on the M & M Music Magazine while their families listened to the broadcast next door at Allyworld (Takoma Radio’s host location).

The 2017-18 URadio program was made possible by generous grants from the City of Takoma Park and the Rubin Foundation.

Congratulations to the URadio grads!

Around Labor Day last year, a small, absentee-owned commercial radio station started broadcasting from Potomac, MD on the very same FM frequency as WOWD. Their signal caused interference for some WOWD listeners, particularly those west of downtown Silver Spring and north of the Beltway.  We asked you to write in, and you did!  We sent your testimony to the Federal Communications Commission, and on May 8, the FCC ruled in our favor and ordered that station to stop transmitting.  We’ll be checking to see that they do.

In the meantime, know that we are grateful for your vigilant support of community radio. Thank you, from everybody here at Takoma Radio.

Jack Hairston, a 14-year old graduate of WOWD’s URadio youth training program, will host a music variety show Fridays at 4pm, starting May 18.  

DJ Quartermaine brings club DJ skills to Sunday late night radio (11pm) starting May 20. Uncle Q’s Living Room features R&B, funk, and soul. 

Julz Silverman’s Bohemian Groove replaces M&M Musical Magazineon alternate Thursdays at 7pm, starting June 7. Julz is an artist whose setlists explore music that feeds the process of creating visual art. (Former M&M host Marika Partridge is now on every Tuesday at 10am with the eclectic Check-In Time.)

WOWD welcomes Steve Korn, joining Bobby Hill as host of This! Music (Saturdays 10am). Steve heads RhizomeDC, an experimental arts and performance space in Takoma.  And a warm welcome to Brian Weber, joining the host team of Musical Traditions Encounter (Sundays 5-7pm.)
 

Matt Testa hosts Coda, a showcase of contemporary classical music every other Wednesday at 6pm on WOWD. He's also a member of the Programming Committee, assessing program applications and tracking existing shows.

By day, Matt is an archivist at the Arthur Friedheim Library at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He grew up in a musical home in Buffalo, N.Y.  He and his siblings all played instruments: clarinet, piano, flute, and percussion. He majored in Music in college, and then got a Master's in Musicology. Contemporary classical music fascinates him.  “With new music, you don’t know what to expect,” says Matt. “I don’t necessarily respond well to the difficult or dissonant, but I do appreciate the challenge.”

Matt's current listening includes “Become Ocean” by John Luther Adams, and the Now Ensemble’s newly released “Rounder Songs,” which Matt describes as a blend of folk and classical that “hits a sweet spot " - reminiscent of Aaron Copeland’s “Appalachian Spring.”  Tune in Wednesdays from 6-8pm for Coda with Matt Testa. Coda alternates with Classic Armenian Dipthongs, another unique program presenting off-the-beaten-track music.