Terrance McKnight: a proud voice resounding from the middle of the road. Terrance is the evening host on WQXR.
When Terrance McKnight moved to New York City, his 96-year-old grandmother offered him a few words of wisdom: “If you’ve got something to say, get out there in the middle of the road and say it; don’t go hiding behind no bush.” From a long line of passionate citizens — his maternal family founded a branch of the NAACP in Mississippi and his father the pastor of a church in Cleveland — Terrance and his siblings were expected to contribute to their community while growing up. Early on, Terrance decided he would take the musician’s journey.
As a teenager, he played trumpet in the school orchestra and played piano for various congregations around Cleveland. At Morehouse College and Georgia State University he performed with the college Glee Club and New Music Ensemble respectively and subsequently joined the music faculty at Morehouse. While in Georgia he brought his love of music and performing to the field of broadcasting.
Terrance is an Artistic Advisor for the Harlem Chamber Players and serves on the board of the Bagby Foundation and the MacDowell Colony. He’s frequently sought out by major cultural organizations for his insight into the cultivation of diverse perspectives and voices in the cultural sphere. He regularly curates concerts and talks at Merkin Concert Hall, the Billie Holiday Theatre the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Museum of Modern Art.
Shows:
Terrance McKnight appears in the following:
Monday, January 16, 2023
Host Terrance McKnight interweaves musical examples with Dr. King's own speeches and sermons to illustrate the powerful place that music held in his work.
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Throughout her career, American contralto Marian Anderson performed a repertoire well ahead of her time.
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Host Terrance McKnight presents a one-hour program that explores the symphonic music, songs, works for piano and legacy of Florence Beatrice Price.
Monday, December 13, 2021
A.O. Scott, co-chief film critic of the New York Times, helps us review the year in culture. What can we learn about our struggling effort to live together from this year’s art?
Friday, June 18, 2021
Our sister station WQXR will have an all day marathon on Juneteenth.
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Hear a re-creation of Beethoven’s famous marathon concert in Vienna, where many of his greatest works premiered on this very day in 1808
Monday, December 14, 2020
Terrance McKnight on WQXR's five-day radio festival marking Beethoven's 250th birthday.
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
WQXR’s Terrance McKnight hosts a conversation about the Black experience in the concert hall and the unique challenges people of color face in the classical music world.
Wednesday, September 02, 2020
WQXR host Terrance McKnight joins us to discuss the Mostly Mozart Festival, which ran earlier this month.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
WQXR’s Terrance McKnight hosts a conversation about the Black experience in the concert hall and the unique challenges people of color face in the classical music world.
Monday, August 10, 2020
The Opening Night broadcast of the Mostly Mozart Festival on WQXR features a “mashup” of Mozart’s Requiem seamlessly interwoven with Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.
Friday, June 26, 2020
As the nation grapples with a reckoning, we pause to celebrate Juneteenth. Our holiday special, for Black liberation and the ongoing birth of the United States.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
To celebrate Juneteenth, WQXR hosted a live call-in special – “The Black Experience in the Concert Hall” – with WQXR's Evening Host Terrance McKnight.
Saturday, June 20, 2020
On Friday, June 19th, WQXR honors Juneteenth with a live call-in special, “The Black Experience in the Concert Hall” hosted by Terrance McKnight.
Friday, June 19, 2020
WQXR's evening host Terrance McKnight shares his playlist for Juneteenth.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Beethoven, like you've never heard him before.
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Wednesday, April 01, 2020
WQXR's evening host Terrance McKnight in conversation with Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson
Monday, January 20, 2020
Reverend Kelly Brown Douglas and journalist Dorothy Butler Gilliam discuss the relationship between activism and black churches.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
In 1969, some of music's most iconic artists played free summer concerts in Mount Morris Park. Unlike the festival to the north, it's been largely overlooked. So let's rediscover it.