Laura Walker, President and CEO of WNYC

NEW YORK, NY October 08, 2009 —I’m delighted to welcome WQXR listeners to our newly expanded family of WNYC and public radio. As a New Yorker, I am relieved and happy to know that this important voice in the cultural life of our City will be preserved – the familiar and reliable touchstone of WQXR.

Devoted music lovers like me can be assured they will hear classical music 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on listener-supported WQXR.

This is no small feat. Across the United States, classical stations are threatened. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for classical music to be missing from the dial altogether, in either a commercial or a noncommercial format.

WQXR’s new life as a public radio station means you’ll be hearing more music with fewer interruptions – and no commercials. Our exceptional line-up of hosts – WQXR veterans Jeff Spurgeon, Midge Woolsey and Elliot Forrest, newcomer Naomi Lewin, and Terrance McKnight and David Garland, who join the station from WNYC – will all have more time to spend with you, too.

The new WQXR will bring you a wonderful melding of old and new, with much more content on the web, collaborations with great cultural institutions like Lincoln Center, and a repertoire infused with the vibrancy of New York City and carefully curated for discriminating listeners.

Please tune in to WQXR frequently and visit us at wqxr.org. I promise we will do our best to bring you the classical music you love and to inspire and entertain you every day.