John Michael Barone (born June 28, 1946) is an American organist, radio host, and producer, specializing in the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

. His weekly '' Pipedreams'' program is distributed by

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

. He was the classical music director at

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...

for 25 years and hosted broadcasts of the

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is an American chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Its principal concert venue is the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. In collaboration with five artistic partners, the orchestra's musi ...

and MPR's ''The New Releases''.

Biography

Barone's interest in organ music began in his teens, at first listening to recordings, then playing at his hometown church in

Kingston, Pennsylvania Kingston is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River opposite Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. Kingston was first settled in the early 17 ...

. He attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, worked at the student-run

WOBC-FM WOBC-FM (91.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial educational Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to serve Oberlin, Ohio, Oberlin, Ohio, carrying a mixed Freeform radio, freeform and Community radio, community format. Owned by Oberl ...

radio station, and graduated from Oberlin Conservatory in 1968 with a degree in music history. He began his professional radio career as the music director of

KSJR-FM KSJR-FM (90.1 MHz) is a radio station licensed to Collegeville, Minnesota, and serving the St. Cloud area. The station is owned by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), and airs MPR's " Classical Music Network", originating from the Twin Cities. The st ...

located at St. John's University in

Collegeville, Minnesota Collegeville is an unincorporated community in St. Wendel Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitob ...

. The station evolved into Minnesota Public Radio, where he served as classical music director for 25 years. Beginning in 1970, he produced and hosted a weekly Sunday night broadcast of organ music, known as ''The Organ Program''. In 1982, he created a 14-episode series of live performance recordings, derived in large part from concerts during the 1980 National Convention of the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educa ...

(AGO). This successful "pilot" program evolved into the weekly ''Pipedreams'' show, beginning in October 1983. He was an adviser and consultant to the pipe organ installation at the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and has served as a program consultant to the organ series at the

Kimmel Center The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue at 300 South Broad Street (Philadelphia), Broad Street and the corner of Spruce Street, along the stretch known as the Avenue of the Arts, Philadelphia, Avenue of the Ar ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He has commissioned a cycle of preludes and fugues for organ from composer Henry Martin, which began to be published in 2008.

Accolades

In 1996 Barone received the biennial AGO President's Award for "outstanding contributions to the art of the organ". In 1997 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the

Organ Historical Society The Organ Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization primarily composed of pipe organ enthusiasts interested in the instrument's design, construction, conservation and use in musical performance. Formed in 1956, the headquarters moved fr ...

, which he would later serve as president. In 2001 the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

awarded ''Pipedreams'' the

Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American composer, radio commentator, music critic, and author. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." He was e ...

Radio Broadcast Award for Excellence. Barone received a 2002 citation for his longevity and service to classical music in public radio. Also in 2002 he was inducted into the

Minnesota Music Hall of Fame The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame is located at First North Street and Broadway in New Ulm, Minnesota, United States, in the former public library. It has memorabilia of individual musicians and musical groups, as well as photographs of all who ...

. The AGO commissioned Haig Mardirosian to create a monograph on Barone published in 2017, the first in an AGO series. On August 20, 2018, Barone was feted by colleagues on the 50th anniversary of his continuous employment at Minnesota Public Radio, and the 35th anniversary of the continuous weekly presence of ''Pipedreams'' in national distribution. These milestones were celebrated, in conjunction with the Twin Cities chapter of the AGO, with a special concert and reception at the Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, involving eight local organists, one guest player, and the largest mechanical-action pipe organ in the Upper Midwest.

References

External links

Pipedreams: About the host
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barone, Michael 1946 births Living people Classical music radio presenters American Public Media Minnesota Public Radio people Oberlin College alumni People from Kingston, Pennsylvania