Classical 24®
Schedule for May 23, 2025
(All times are U.S. Central).Select a new date:
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Julie Amacher
Julie Amacher's desire to introduce others to great music is what led her to radio. She began her professional broadcast career at a station in Sun Prairie, WI. She went from rock 'n' roll to the Rocky Mountains, where she found her niche in public radio at KUNC in Greeley, Colo. Julie spent 13 years at KUNC, where she managed the announcers and their eclectic music format. During that time, she earned four national awards for best announcer. She joined Classical 24 in 1997 as a host and producer. She has managed the service since 2007.
Jake Armerding
Jake Armerding grew up playing classical violin and listening to ‘80s pop radio. He spent 20 years on the road as an instrumentalist, appearing on such revered stages as Carnegie Hall and the Newport Folk Festival, before pivoting toward local musical work. He was thrilled to land a spot on the YourClassical team in the last days of 2024. He and his wife oversee the developing rowdiness of their three boys.
Scott Blankenship
Scott Blankenship started his radio career in college when he began working as a volunteer at a local cable radio station, announcing alternative and new rock music. His love and appreciation of classical music began at public radio station KVNO in Omaha, where he spent 13 years in various on-air and management roles, five of those years as the morning drive-time host.
Jeff Esworthy
Jeff Esworthy has been a host of Classical 24 since 1996. He’s a public radio veteran with more than 20 years behind the microphone, where he’s hosted everything from folk to jazz to progressive rock. A hobbyist musician and collector of instruments from around the world, Jeff has what he describes as a “passable” command of southern string-band music on fiddle and banjo, and he is a long-time student of the classical music of Northern India on instruments such as the sitar, sarangi and tabla.
Ward Jacobson
Ward Jacobson has enjoyed a radio career spanning over two decades as a morning show host and sportscaster, as well as producer/host of an interview program where he chatted with authors, musicians, politicians and newsmakers.
Valerie Kahler
Valerie Kahler started playing cello and piano in 3rd grade, but didn't officially fall under the spell of classical music until high school when she began exploring her parents' LP collection. There, tucked between the Herb Alpert and an abandoned children's record, she found an album of the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta. She played the A side (Ravel's Bolero and Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave) over and over again, mesmerized by the changes of color the composers could produce with different instruments, and by the images the music conjured in her imagination. Thanks to teachers and professors with high expectations and a taste for demanding repertoire, Valerie was able to explore orchestral, chamber and vocal music from the inside out, all through high school and college. At some point during an unfocused pursuit of a bachelor's degree, she wandered into the studios of KNAU (now Arizona Public Radio) in Flagstaff, Arizona. A stint as a volunteer in the music library inevitably led to being placed, unwillingly, in front of a microphone. It became surprisingly less terrifying each time, so she stayed. Ten years later, she packed her bike and her cat into a small pickup truck and drove to St. Paul, Minnesota to work for Classical24. When she's not playing classical music or talking about classical music, she's likely to be reading, sewing, singing or cooking. Valerie shares her life with her partner John, an artist, and their two cats: Mirra and Dieter.
Jillene Khan
Jillene Khan works for Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media as an overnight classical host. She studied radio broadcasting at Brown College in St. Paul and kept her Midwestern roots after graduation by hosting at radio stations in Minneapolis; Milwaukee; Davenport, Iowa; and Madison, Wisconsin. She has received local and national recognition for her work from the Country Music Association and Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. She recently won the Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. Outside of radio, her favorite things include spending time with loved ones, a great hug, an animal of any kind, and the thrill of a new experience. She absolutely loves doing things for the first time or going places she has never been before. She also enjoys being outdoors, no matter what the weather. “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing,” she says.
Elizabeth Lyon
Elizabeth Lyon joins the classical ranks as our assistant program director and fill-in host after six years working for us as a master control specialist, board operator and producer. Her new role combines her love of working technically, behind-the-scenes, as well as stepping in front of the microphone to share her favorite music. As the assistant program director, she coordinates programming, serves as an on-air host and dips her toes in every part of the department. That’s what she loves most about working in radio: “It’s like a river you flow on and you don’t know where you’ll end up, but you love the ride.” Although a violinist by training, her favorite classical composers are tied to her roots in choral music. When not doing all things audio, she can be found hiking, reading, or volunteering with programs that benefit children.
Bonnie North
For host Bonnie North, classical music is more than just a genre — it's a way of life. She stumbled into the world of radio after responding to a newspaper ad for Vermont Public Radio seeking a classical music DJ for its Sunday afternoon show. Despite having no previous radio experience, she was confident in her knowledge of classical music and took a chance. She created an audition tape, and the rest is history. Her favorite composer depends on her mood. Sometimes she seeks the meditative sounds of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, while other times she craves the angular compositions of Igor Stravinsky. Of course, she also loves the classics by composers who include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. But she is always looking for contemporary composers and is eager to discover new musical talents. Outside of work, she loves to attend live music events. She also enjoys traveling and having friends and family scattered throughout the United States and Europe. But her love for animals is just as strong, and she often volunteers at animal shelters. She is an avid duathlon participant, combining her love for running and biking in one exciting event.
Kevin O'Connor
Kevin O'Connor grew up in a household where his father and boisterous Irish uncles would often noisily debate what was to be played on the turntable: Between the three brothers, and depending on the mood of the day, it wavered between Glenn Gould, Oscar Peterson and Gordon Lightfoot. (The brothers also hailed from Toronto). Kevin's career arc seemed to follow suit, spinning and selling classical, jazz, folk and pop music on the radio, and briefly in retail, for the past three decades. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, he migrated do the Pacific Northwest, landing the requisite free-form overnight shift at his college station, KBSU, Boise. This was the first among many rungs in a public radio career that has always permitted him to express his passions for great music and explore his mercenary tendency toward spreading the message to anyone who will listen. For the past 18 years, he has served as music director and afternoon host at KBEM. He is also an avid cyclist and walker.
Melissa Ousley
Melissa Ousley stumbled into a career in broadcasting many years ago when she moved to Wichita, Kansas to be near her soon-to-be husband. The attraction (to radio work, that is) was immediate and the chance to be around great music without having to practice was irresistible. After establishing herself as a host and producer in Kansas, Melissa moved to Minnesota and continued her work at WCAL in Northfield and Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul. Her morning classical show at WCAL was twice named "Best Classical Radio Program" by the Twin Cities paper City Pages. Melissa grew up near New York City. As a teenager, she attended the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music. Her bachelor's degree is from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. When she's away from the airwaves, Melissa loves to run, read, and spend time with her family.
Mindy Ratner
Mindy Ratner fell hopelessly in love with radio as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she volunteered at an on-campus student station. She worked at the local public television station and began her career in earnest as an announcer at Wisconsin Public Radio. The native New Yorker moved on to stations in Cincinnati and Philadelphia before joining Minnesota Public Radio in 1983. April 1998 marked the beginning of a great life adventure, as Ratner began work as a music host and producer on the English Service of China Radio International in Beijing before a return to MPR. Her extracurricular interests include international travel; folk, ballroom and contra-dancing; choral singing; hanging out with her amazing Chinese cat; and trying to stay ahead of the weeds in her garden…with varying degrees of success!
Melanie Renate
Through her many mentors at KROC in Rochester, Minnesota, Melanie Renate learned how to splice tape in tandem with learning how to use her voice. She eventually found her path combining her ability to care for people with her love of radio broadcasting. As a certified health and wellness coach and a passionate yogi and mental-health advocate, she has developed a deep appreciation for ways in which music can aid in overall wellness. She is excited to bring her passion for people with her as she steps back behind the microphone as a classical host.
Steve Seel
Steve Seel is the host of YourClassical’s weekly SymphonyCast and the trailblazing music show Extra Eclectic. He possesses a broad knowledge of many musical genres, having hosted radio programs ranging from classical to jazz and even avant-garde music at radio stations around the country. Steve began his love affair with public radio at 24 working whatever shifts he could at his hometown station of WUSF-FM in Tampa, Florida, and from there worked his way to snowy Buffalo, New York, and its renowned classical station WNED-FM, where he hosted middays and the weekly experimental-music show Present Tense. In 2005, Steve became one of the founding voices on Minnesota Public Radio's eclectic station, the Current. While there, he hosted afternoons and mornings, and conducted in-depth interviews with pop music luminaries ranging from Brian Eno to David Byrne to Tori Amos. Steve is a basement composer obsessed with all things both minimalist and slow, and might actually be incapable of writing anything that exceeds 75 beats-per-minute.
Steve Staruch
Steve Staruch can be heard on Classical Minnesota Public Radio from 3 to 7 p.m. weekdays, including hosting Friday Favorites, as well as nationally during those times. Before joining MPR in 2004, Steve presented a variety of radio programs on WCAL in Northfield, Minn., where he created an immensely popular call-in program, and on WXXI in Rochester, N.Y. Outside radio, he enjoys work as a freelance tenor and violist. He and his wife, Naomi, enjoy traveling, gardening and hosting dinner parties.
Lynne Warfel
Lynne Warfel celebrates 30 years as a broadcaster in 2014. She started in Los Angeles in 1984 at the venerable commercial classical station KFAC, and also worked at KUSC. She then lived in Edinburgh, Scotland for five years working in a classic rock format at Radio Forth in Edinburgh before returning to the States and joining Minnesota Public Radio in 1993. Lynne trained as an actor, graduating from Northwestern University and also trained at Second City Workshop. She's a 35 year member of Actor's Equity and Screen Actors' Guild. She finished a Masters in Theology from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Her interests and passions include: laughing, dog rescue, her Collies and Gordon Setters, her Lipizzan horse, Teddy and her two extremely funny, smart and sweet sons, Peter and Josh.