John Schaefer is an American radio host and author. A longtime host at

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

, Schaefer began hosting the influential radio shows '' New Sounds'' in 1982 and ''

Soundcheck A soundcheck is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small po ...

'' in 2002, and has produced many different programs for other

New York Public Radio New York Public Radio (NYPR) is a New York City-based independent, publicly supported, Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit media organization incorporated in 1979. Its stated mission is "To make the mind more curious, the heart more open and t ...

platforms. Schaefer is also the author of the book '' New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music'', first published in 1987.

Early life and education

Schaefer was born and raised in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York. He attended

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

in the Bronx, from which he graduated in 1980.

Career

Broadcast journalism

Schaefer began his career in radio in the late 1970s at

WFUV WFUV (90.7 FM) is a non–commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Fordham University, with studios on its Bronx campus and its antenna atop the nearby Montefiore Medical Center. WFUV first went on the ...

, which was then a student-run

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

station at

. By the time he graduated, he was the station's programming director, after which he spent one year at a classical station in Portland, Maine before returning to New York and joining WNYC in 1981. Schaefer began developing his genre-spanning music program ''New Sounds'' in early 1982, with the show premiering that September.

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

has called the show "The No. 1 radio show for the Global Village" and it has been syndicated by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

as well as by stations in Australia and Taiwan."John Schaefer , Host"
WNYC. He began the ''New Sounds Live'' concert series in 1986. In 2002, be began hosting the art and music talk radio show ''

'' for WNYC. He had composer

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

as a guest on his ''Soundcheck'' show in 2009. Also for WNYC, Schaefer hosts the segment "Gig Alerts" for the news program ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 a ...

''. From January 2016 until January 2017, Schaefer hosted the podcast ''LPR Live'' which showcased live performances from the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

music venue

(Le) Poisson Rouge (Le) Poisson Rouge (often referred to as LPR) is a music venue and multimedia art cabaret in New York City founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of the Village Gate at 158 Bleecker Street. The performance space was ...

. The show was broadcast on the digital station Q2, the online affiliate of the classical music station WQXR which, like WYNC, is owned by the non-profit

(NYPR). Later in 2017, Schaefer joined WQXR to host the weekly show ''The Furthermore'' and continues to advise on Q2. In 2018, NYPR announced that they were expanding ''New Sounds'' into its own online platform. While Schafer's programs continued to be broadcast on their original stations, the New Sounds "online destination" collected most of Schafer's programs into one place. With this expansion, Schafer also began hosting a new titular online radio station as well. Just a year later, it was reported that all of the New Sounds programming would be dropped by NYPR and Schaefer's shows would no longer be broadcast by WNYC nor WQXR. After more than a week of outcry by the public and musicians, with many calling Schaefer a vital part of the New York music scene, NYPR announced that they would be retaining New Sounds and all of its affiliated programs. Composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

has been quoted saying, "'For we who live in New York to have chaeferin the position he's in at the radio station, that's amazing... There are very few professional music people – not only musicians, but writers about music – who you can really truly say have an open, expansive horizon. And he does."

Print journalism

Schaefer published his first book in 1987, ''New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music'' (New York:

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...

, 1987). For

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

, he wrote the book ''New Sounds: the Virgin Guide to New Music'', published in 1990. He has contributed to ''The Cambridge Companion to Singing'' (2000) and to ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' and ''

Ear In vertebrates, an ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear co ...

'' magazines. Schaefer has written liner notes for more than 100 albums, including for

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

and

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist music, minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notab ...

. He is also one of the compilation producers on the various artists ''Invocation'' album.

Personal life

Schaefer is passionate about horse racing. He grew up near the

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack within ...

in Queens and spent summers with his family in Saratoga Springs at the

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Springs, New York (state), New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting v ...

. He contributed to the 2006 anthology ''Bloodlines: A Horse Racing Anthology''.

Original programs

* ''New Sounds'' (WNYC); since 1982 * ''Soundcheck'' (WNYC); since 2002 * ''Gig Alerts'' (WNYC); ''Morning Edition'' segment * ''LPR Live'' (Q2/WQXR); podcast produced 2016/2017 * ''The Furthermore'' (WQXR); since 2017 * ''Carnegie Hall Live'' (Carnegie Hall/WQXR); 2018, thirteen-part series co-hosted with Jeff Spurgeon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaefer, John Living people American radio journalists American reporters and correspondents American talk radio hosts Year of birth missing (living people) WFUV people