John Schaefer

Leonard celebrates his 23rd anniversary here at WNYC! Two other longtime WNYC voices, Steve Post and John Schaefer, join Leonard to talk about life at the station over the years.

Weigh in: Tell us your favorite memories of the Leonard Lopate Show from over the years. Do you have a ...

The New York Philharmonic performed an historic concert in the East Pyongyang Grand Theater. WNYC's John Schaefer was part of the orchestra's entourage, and he hosted the concert broadcast. Now, Schaefer's baaaack. Don't miss what he had to say about the trip to North ...

Lorin Maazel, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, and John Schaefer , the host of WNYC's Sound Check and New Sounds, talk about the New York Philharmonic's trip to North Korea.

On WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, Lorin Maazel, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, and John Schaefer , the host of WNYC's Soundcheck and New Sounds, debrief after the New...

Our North Korean handlers have been going crazy trying to maintain some semblance of order among the unruly mob that is the international press. But it turns out they will have the last laugh. At 7 am, room phones start to ring. Please pay your room and phone/internet charges between ...

So, after all this, what about the concert itself? Well, you can presumably hear it by clicking on the link to our broadcast of it elsewhere on this website (ed.'s note: our broadcast window has expired. Check the New York Philharmonic's site, which has full online audio/video of the event: ...

Day 2 starts just a few hours after a frustrating day 1 ends. Upon waking, no tech fairies have appeared to magically make connections work, though Larry Rock has been making reassuring noises in his emails to NY, which I'm cc'd on. The banquet room has been set up for ...

I don't know what I really expected from North Korea - I pictured it as a steely, grey, cold place: a bleak, barren land with people moving around in a combination of militaristic precision and cult-induced narcosis.
So when we flew in over a bleak, barren landscape with almost ...

Korean American listeners and Charles Armstrong, associate professor of history and director of the Center for Korean Research at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), weigh in on the Philharmonic's trip to North Korea. John Schaefer, host of WNYC's Soundcheck, calls in from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, ...

The New York Philharmonic arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea yesterday and it is making finnal preparations for its landmark concert tomorrow night. Soundcheck host John Schaefer is there and he joins us with his initial impressions.

Under other circumstances, the New York Philharmonic's performance here tonight might be a story unto itself. But with the orchestra leaving tomorrow morning, with its press corps in tow, for the history-making concert in North Korea, tonight is simply a prelude to the main event.

Greetings and welcome to Soundcheck’s Pyongyang blog! For the next week, Soundcheck host John Schaefer will be part of the New York Philharmonic’s Asian 2008 entourage as the orchestra makes a grand overture of cultural diplomacy, performing a concert in North Korea. If the internet access that we're promised actually ...

See what host John Schaefer and the listeners chose as the best albums of 2007.

New York, NY —

Hilly Krystal, the founder of the rock club CBGBs, died this past week at the age of 75. This coming Tuesday, one of CBGBs most legendary regulars, the singer Patti Smith, will headline the opening night concert at the new Music Hall of Williamsburg. All ...

New York, NY —

The gates at historic Saratoga Race Course open today, for a six week race-season considered to be the finest in North America. And each year, WNYC’s John Schaefer follows the horses north, pulled by the charm and the chance to place a bet.

New York, NY —

The Saratoga Race Track opened today. WNYC's John Schaefer offers his reflections on magic of Saratoga.

John Schaefer chooses the best of the best of 2006.

Saxophonist and composer John Zorn may have just won a $500,000 MacArthur fellowship, but he started out as a rebel in the 1970s and transformed New York's downtown music scene. Since then, he's led a hardcore band, a jazz quartet and a chamber ensemble, and he founded ...