Iowa Public Radio celebrates the New Year with the launch of new programming!

12/12/08 (Des Moines) - As Iowa Public Radio completes its fourth year of development and expansion across Iowa, listeners will hear some new programs beginning on January 5, 2009. IPR will be expanding its locally-produced classical music and jazz offerings, creating a weekly highlight program called "The Best of IPR Talk," and adding an overnight program on the Studio One network called "UnderCurrents." Other new programs include "The Vinyl Cafe" and the "Gilmore International Piano Festival."

In September 2007, Iowa Public Radio launched its unified classical service. Over the last several months, IPR has evaluated its first year and beginning January 5, Iowa Public Radio Classical will offer some refinements including some changes to its host schedule:

Iowa Public Radio's own Joan Kjaer narrates a new nationally syndicated series, the "Gilmore International Keyboard Festival." Starting January 4, you can hear the one-hour program every Sunday at 1 p.m. on all stations of the Iowa Public Radio Classical network. The new 13-week radio series, produced by WFMT in Chicago, gives you an insider's look into the music, guided by such luminaries as Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Fleisher, Marc-André Hamelin, Richard Goode, and many others, all of whom you also hear in performances from the Gilmore.

The Classical network will again be producing "Symphonies of Iowa," this time as an expanded 21-week series with performances by the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Iowa, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and the Quad City Symphony. The weekly series begins Monday, March 2 at 8 p.m. with the Cedar Rapids Symphony/Orchestra Iowa's "Masterworks I: Ode to Joy" concert.

In an effort to make IPR's news and talk programming available to as many Iowans as possible, programming on the western K Stations, KWOI/KTPR/KOWI, will now be the same as WOI-AM and WSUI —they will carry the News network full-time. This means that they will no longer carry classical music in the evening or programs from the Studio One network such as "Backtracks," "Java Blend" or "Sound Opinions;" however, all of these programs will be available online at iowapublicradio.org. And the IPR News Network will be adding another reporter to its team of exceptional professionals to strengthen news coverage in all corners of Iowa.

Tune in to "The Vinyl Cafe" to hear the misadventures of Dave, owner of the Vinyl Cafe —  the world’s smallest record store where the motto is “We May Not Be Big, But We're Small.” The show features Dave and his wife, Morley, their two children Sam and Stephanie and assorted friends and neighbors. The program is hosted by Stuart McLean, Canada's answer to Garrison Keillor. In addition to stories "The Vinyl Cafe" also features music — both live and recorded. The show travels across the country searching for new, undiscovered musicians and visiting with old friends. McLean is a best-selling author, award-winning journalist and humorist. Heard by 750,000 North Americans every weekend, the show is currently heard across Canada on CBC Radio 1 & 2, on BBC 7 in the UK and now on the Iowa Public Radio News network Saturdays at 7 p.m.

"The Best of IPR Talk" will air Sundays at 5 p.m. and feature the best of "The Exchange" and "Talk@12" from the previous week on Iowa Public Radio. It will be a wonderful outlet to catch up on IPR's talk shows for people who may have missed them, or a chance to hear a great program again. This program is being added to take full advantage of Iowa Public Radio's efforts to deliver local programming across the state.

As is true with "The Best of IPR Talk," listeners will also be able to hear the best of Terry Gross' program in "Fresh Air Weekend." This one-hour show collects the best cultural segments from the week's programs and crafts them together into one show for great weekend listening. In response to listener demand to hear Terry Gross at times other than 11 a.m., "Fresh Air Weekend" will air on the IPR News network Saturdays at 6 p.m.

In an effort to expand IPR's Triple A programming, "UnderCurrents" will be added to the Studio One network lineup. The show is hosted by Peabody Award winner Gregg McVicar and will be a welcome addition to IPR's schedule of essential music. Like IPR's "Night Music" show and the "World Cafe," "UnderCurrents" is an eclectic mix of rock, folk, blues, roots and world music. You'll hear Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Al Green, Greg Brown, The Rolling Stones, Son Volt, Dar Williams and more. McVicar is the former host of the program "Earthsongs" and is a longtime presence on California's airwaves. The show will air Mondays through Thursdays at midnight and Fridays at 11 p.m. on IPR's Studio One network.

For complete schedules detailing the changes to IPR's programming streams, visit www.iowapublicradio.org.

Iowa Public Radio informs, enriches and engages Iowans through radio programming and other media. Iowa Public Radio includes the WOI Radio Group (Iowa State University, Ames), KUNI-KHKE (University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls), and KSUI-WSUI (University of Iowa, Iowa City).

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