Missouri Classical Music News and Notes

Anyone with a strong interest in classical vocal music almost has to go with satellite because most commercial stations shy away from it. Bruce Ryder, a lawyer, subscribes to XM primarily for the three classical music channels, but he also listens to the BBC news service, a folk channel and the Cardinals.

One thing thats nice, particularly about the classical stations, is that the announcers are mercifully brief, Ryder says. Thats a decided advantage over the local stuff.Sirius and XM each offers three classical channels, organized along similar lines . . .

The audience is not all confirmed classical music fans — and that’s important, says Davis, the Vox programmer.

“As they shut down classical stations in major markets, we get an influx of people,” Davis says. “But as we make classical more widely available, a lot of people who never heard it before now have access and are listening in. We’re getting people in the door.”