VPR Classical Wants You To Help Us Digitize!

VPR's Kari Anderson in the classical music library

VPR Classical is looking for volunteers to help with a huge digital cataloging project in our music library! We have already begun cataloging thousands of CDs and we need your help.

We are looking for volunteers with a basic knowledge and appreciation for classical music, who are at ease with computers and data entry. Join us in our Colchester studios to fill your summer with great music and great company.

If you're interested in volunteering, let us know by sending us an email!

A Surprise Visit From Bill McLaughlin

We had a surprise visit today from Bill McLaughlin, host of Exploring Music on VPR Classical. He's based in Chicago, but was traveling from Montreal to Massachusetts with his girlfriend, jazz singer Karrin Allyson and called this morning to see if he could pop by for an impromptu visit. He's as nice in person as he seems on the air!



Since we're in the middle of our summer membership drive, we couldn't resist putting him on the air to make the case for supporting VPR - listen for his testimonial on VPR Classical, or check it out here!

Listen to Exploring Music with Bill McLaughlin weeknights at 7.

It's Time To Pick The Daysies!

It's time to pick the Daysies again! The Seven Daysies, that is. Each year, readers of the Burlington-based Seven Days weekly paper pick their favorite "best" restaurants, artists, stores, festivals, journalists, politicians in Vermont.

Vermont Public Radio has won Best Radio Station every year since 2008, and we hope you'll help us make it five years running by casting your vote for VPR. Voting ends this Friday, June 22nd. Thanks!

Celebrating 140 Years Of Service

Each June, the VPR staff gets together for lunch to celebrate each other's achievements and milestones. This year, we had a sunny picnic to celebrate 17 employees for their service to VPR.

Starting at left in the back row, they are: Ty Robertson, 15 years, Victoria St. John, 15 years, Willie Pearson, 5 years, Patti Daniels, 10 years, Jonathan Butler, 5 years, Jane Lindholm, 5 years, Brian Jones, 5 years, (front row, left to right) Rich Parker, 15 years, Susan Bushey, 5 years, Michelle Jeffery, 10 years, and Ric Cengeri, 5 years. Not pictured are 5-year VPR vets Karen Anderson, Liz Fullerton, Joe Goetz, Dave McGown, and Ross Sneyd, as well as 10-year employees Lynne McCrea and Susan Keese.

That adds up to 140 years of service! Congratulations all! Here are some more photos from the event:

Jazz Host George Thomas Announces His Retirement From VPR's Airwaves

After more than 11 years behind the mic, we are sad to announce that Jazz Host George Thomas is retiring from VPR's airwaves.

He announced his retirement on tonight's show, and his final show will be in late June.

George began hosting jazz on VPR in 2001. Since then, he has built a dedicated following of listeners who appreciate his intimate on-air presence and ability to find “just that song” to capture a mood or a moment.

“It has been an honor and I am grateful to have been able to share jazz with VPR's avid, curious, and astute listeners, who often suggested artists, songs and albums to play,” George said. “From Montreal to Brattleboro, Peacham to Burlington, White River to Rutland and through all the gores and towns in between, people are playing, listening, and loving jazz. I want to thank them for allowing me to learn more about America's greatest art form every day.”

Jazz will continue to have a presence on VPR, but the details have yet to be finalized. For now, we look forward to celebrating George's contribution to VPR and to the jazz community in our region.

As Ella Fitzgerald once said, ‘It isn't where you came from, it's where you're going that counts.’ We hope you'll join us in wishing George the very best in his next adventure!

Update: Cut The Drive In Half

Typically, receiving half of something is a bad thing.

But what about half of a membership drive?

By now, you've surely heard about our effort to cut the upcoming membership drive in half by raising $245,000 before it even begins. To date, more than 500 of you have voted with your wallet in favor of shorter membership drives, and we have great momentum to meet this important goal by June 18th.

Listeners are always telling us they would like less on-air fundraising and more programming. So, we launched this experiment to see if we could raise at least half of our overall goal before the drive, and cut the number of days we need to spend fundraising in half (to just five days).

However, the deadline is fast approaching! In fact, there are only 14 days left to meet this mark, so it’s vitally important that we hear from you TODAY.

Without listener support, VPR wouldn’t exist. And without listener support today, we won’t be able to realize this important goal.

Thanks in advance for supporting Vermont Public Radio and shorter membership drives!