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KCSN 88.5 FM: The Best Classical Station Is Still Here
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KCSN 88.5 FM, the radio station run out of California State University, Northridge (CSUN), is actually not classical station 24/7 like K-Mozart was or KUSC is. The Valley based station runs classical from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. surrounded by BBC Radio in the early mornings and an eclectic mix of music including folk, roots, musicals, blues and Hawaiian at night and on the weekends.
KZMT always felt a bit stodgy and KUSC feels even more so. During classical hours, KCSN can easily go from the Baroque period to the 20th Century with programmatic ease and an audience that accepts the Bach to Cage transitions. The two classical DJs, Ian Freebairn-Smith and Martin Perlich, speak knowledgeably without a bore. And Perlich, who is also the Program Director, brings in local special guests for interviews about upcoming concerts (he also happens to be the author of The Art of the Interview).
The loss of K-Mozart is indeed a terrible loss to our culturally diverse city and we are proud to have held on to 3 classical stations into 2007 (we count KSCN as a classical station with its 60 hours/week of daytime programming). Now there is two and if monetary and societal pressures are to push another out in the future, our Valley jingoism will kick in for a candidate endorsement.
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