{{Update, date=January 2011
The Classical Public Radio Network was a national, 24-hour classical music service in the United States. Its mission was to preserve, enhance and expand experience of classical music for radio listeners. With this vision CPRN was established in 1998 as a limited-liability non-profit company – a joint venture of KUSC (Los Angeles) and Colorado Public Radio – with startup funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 2003 CPRN and
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR) joined in a collaborative marketing arrangement to further expand the network, but ceased national broadcast operations on June 30, 2008.
CPRN offered listeners the full spectrum of the classical repertoire from medieval times to the present – complete symphonies and orchestral pieces, chamber works, opera selections, art songs, and choral works. The announcers and music staff programmed the music with a focus on core repertoire and superior recordings. Each announcer brought personal expertise to selecting featured music, alternate performances, artist tributes and unique recordings, as well as seasonal and date-specific programming.
Enhancing the 24-hour program stream were several weekly and daily shows and features. Weekdays, Kimberlea Daggy hosted ''The Daily Special'' at noon, and Charles Andrews unearthed ''Buried Treasures'' at 8:00pm. On Sunday mornings, Stephanie Wendt presented ''Sacred Classics'', featuring three hours of meditative music for the heart and mind. Contemporary classical music was explored every Saturday evening by Alan Chapman on ''Modern Masterpieces''. The programming was regularly enhanced with holiday programming, new releases, composer profiles, and frequent appearances by artists in the classical music world.
CPRN programming was carried across the country on the following public radio stations: KUSC, Los Angeles;
KVOD
KVOD (88.1 MHz) is a public radio station broadcasting a classical music format. Licensed to Lakewood, Colorado, it serves the Denver metropolitan area. The station is owned by Public Broadcasting Of Colorado. Its programming is broadcast on o ...
, Denver;
WBHM
WBHM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial public FM radio station in Birmingham, Alabama. The station is licensed to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where it maintains its radio studios on 11th Street South. WBHM features programming from Na ...
, Birmingham, Alabama;
KBSU-FM
KBSU-FM (90.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Boise, Idaho. The station is owned by Boise State University, and is the flagship affiliate of Boise State Public Radio's "Music" network.
The station airs classical music and other entertainment ...
, Boise, Idaho; South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Vermillion, South Dakota; High Plains Public Radio, Garden City, Kansas ( KANZ) and Amarillo, Texas (
KJJP
KJJP (105.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Amarillo, Texas. The station is owned by Kanza Society, Inc., and is an affiliate of the High Plains Public Radio network.
History
The station began broadcasting December 6, 1991, airing an easy lis ...
KWTU
KWTU (89.7 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It airs a classical music radio format, mostly from American Public Media's ''Classical 24'', a nationally syndicated music service. KWTU is owned and operated by The Un ...
, Tulsa, Oklahoma; WTEB, New Bern, North Carolina;
WFCR
WFCR (88.5 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Amherst, Massachusetts. It serves as the National Public Radio (NPR) member station for Western Massachusetts, including Springfield. The station operates at 13,000 watts ERP f ...
, Amherst, Massachusetts;
WOSU-FM
WOSU-FM (89.7 FM) is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Columbus, Ohio, featuring a public radio news and information format known as "89.7fm NPR News". Owned by The Ohio State University, the station serves the Columbus m ...
, Columbus, Ohio; and on digital radio,
WHYY-FM
WHYY-FM (90.9 MHz, "91 FM") is a public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its broadcast tower is located in the city's Roxborough neighborhood at () while its studios and offices are located on Independence Mall in Cen ...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
WJCT-FM
WJCT-FM (89.9 MHz) is a public radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. Owned by WJCT, Inc., it is an NPR member station. It shares studios with its sister PBS station WJCT (channel 7) on Festival Park Avenue, near TIAA Bank Field in Downtown Jac ...
, Jacksonville, Florida; and
KDFC-FM
KDFC (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that broadcasts classical music 24 hours daily. It is owned by the University of Southern California. KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Symphony and the S ...
, San Francisco.
Former client stations operated a total of 53 signals and reached more than one million listeners weekly. Programming was distributed to stations via the Public Radio Satellite System.