Does anyone in the younger generation listen to the radio these days?

This is my query almost 48 hours after participating in yet another program on Rio de Janeiro´s Radio-MEC Fm ´s “Sala de Concerto” last Friday at exactly 5 pm ending exactly at 6 pm.

For those musicians and non-musicians who have never done a radio broadcast, this “relic” of the past is hard work which demands miniscule preparation to not pass exact time limits, lots of practice in order not to make mistakes for a live broadcast which is recorded for the archives of forever, and nerves of steel.

My radio days first began in my native New York City performing for the metropolitan radio station WNYC and listening to the internationally recognized WQXR classical music station.

My first full-time job as a “classical” oboist-English horn player was with the South African Broadcasting Orchestra in Johannesburg and in Germany with the Saarbrucken Radio orchestra,

To put it mildly, playing/recording in a radio orchestra every morning especially with the Xray ears of German tone “meisters,” or radio technicians is not easy especially on mornings or afternoons when one doesn’t feel just right or in the mood to blow one´s horn.

My radio days in Rio de Janeiro go back to the Concert Hall program Friday afternoons with a live audience of the late and beloved Lauro Gomes, who made radio work look easy!

In the good/bad old radio days (before computers) not only in Brazil but in the USA, local radios would have symphony orchestras (the NBC with the great Toscanini in New York) or dance bands which included the likes of greats like clarinetists Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw in NYC and here in Rio great arrangers-composers like Radames Gnattali, Tom Jobim, Maestro Alceu Bocchino and of course the crème de la crème of Brazil´s top musicians.

But getting the broadcast last Friday,5 pm of the Camerata Musica Viva (as I named our group) our unique ensemble included pianist Aleida Schweitzer, flugelhornist-oboist and berrante player Leo Fuks and, Brazilian percussionists Pericles Monteiro and Vania Santa Roza and actress-narrator Phylis Huber.

With a roteiro-script authored by Radio Mec´s Adriana Ribeiro and the golden voice of Toni Villani, Camerata Musica Viva went on the air exactly at 5 pm Friday 28 March 2025 with what many called a “different” or unique program of Brazilian music including my hybrid ‘Three Northeastern Brazilian Dreams.”

Not only the geniuses of Tom Jobim, Guerra Peixe and Villani-Cortes were featured but the new compositions of Eduardo Camenietzki, Ricardo Szpilman, Antonio Guerreiro, were included as well as a berrante, used in Brazil to roundup the cattle.

(To these eyes and ears the berrante resembles an over-sized shofar used to celebrate the Jewish New Year.)

And a good time was had by all and hopefully someone listening to the Radio MEC fm enjoyed our program.

Thank you, Radio MEC-FM, …

And please keep in mind every Friday at 17hs on Radio Mec-FM (98.9mhZ) Sala de Concerto features other musical groups from all over Brazil.

And if no one was listening to our program, it will be archived for future listening or placed on my Youtube Channel when it is ready.