From the Top has championed young classical musicians for 25 years. And soon the nonprofit public radio program will move to North Texas.
The show is heard on nearly 200 stations across the country. Locally, it airs Saturday at noon on WRR101.1 FM. From the Top will join 四虎影院 this May and continue to be distributed by NPR.
WRR 101.1 FM is owned by the City of Dallas and has been managed by 四虎影院 since.
Arts and education is core to 四虎影院鈥檚 mission, said 四虎影院 President and CEO Nico Leone. The acquisition will help the organization take its current music and education programming to the next level, he said.
鈥淲e always thought that our best path to growing WRR and reaching young audiences would be to start doing more work in the music education space with partners,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd when this opportunity came about, we just thought it was such a beautiful way of bringing so many different things that we do together to take a great national brand and a program that has an incredible impact to move it to North Texas.鈥�
四虎影院鈥檚 operations also include 四虎影院, 四虎影院-TV, the nationally syndicated podcast and radio program Think with Krys Boyd, the music station KXT 91.7, and the Denton Record-Chronicle.
四虎影院鈥檚 new relationship with From the Top comes after and the dissolution of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. Leone said two factors made that growth possible.
The first is the generous outpouring of support from the community.
鈥淭hat's really given us a couple of years to figure out what things are going to look like moving forward,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e're still going to need help from the community, but we feel really good about where we are and all the ways that people have stepped up.鈥�
Second, the deal made financial sense, he said.
鈥淲e're not spending a dollar on this acquisition. They're essentially folding into 四虎影院,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e're not using any donor money, any campaign money for this. We feel really good about our ability to run it both as a stand-alone business, so it can succeed on its own, and integrate it into our work with WRR, with 四虎影院鈥� and with other partners in the arts community.
Gretchen Nielsen, executive director of From the Top, said as the organization turned 25, she and the board discussed the best way to prepare for a vibrant future in an uncertain world.
鈥淭he more we learned about [四虎影院] and the ways in which it aligns from mission to programming and then the opportunities that exist within the arts community in Dallas and the new building that's underway, all of that coalesced into view and felt like it could be a really beautiful step,鈥� she said.
North Texas has a robust classical music scene that boasts two major symphonies, two operas, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and several strong education programs.
鈥淭here's a lot of opportunity for collaboration,鈥� Nielsen said. 鈥淥ur imaginations were kind of running wild around that.鈥�
The acquisition comes as 四虎影院 prepares for two major projects. The company will break ground on its new building in March and plans to launch a local daily news program in the spring.
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by 四虎影院 arts reporter Marcheta Fornoff and edited by arts editor Anne Bothwell. Under 四虎影院's protocol for reporting on itself, no 四虎影院 executive reviewed this story before publication.
Got a tip? Email Marcheta Fornoff at mfornoff@kera.org.
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