Longtime
classical music radio personality Karl Haas, host of
Adventures in Good Music heard on radio stations
throughout the world, died Sunday, Feb. 6, in Detroit. He
was 91.
His program, which brought musical enjoyment to millions of
listeners, was for many years the most listened-to classical
music radio program in the world, carried by hundreds of
stations in the United States, Australia, Mexico, Panama and
worldwide by Armed Forces Radio.
Boise State Radio interim general manager Steve Johnston
announced that the programs scheduled for this week are
pre-recorded and will play as scheduled. Adventures in
Good Music was heard in Idaho on KBSU-FM at 7 p.m. and
on KBSW-FM at 8 a.m. Beginning Monday, Feb. 14, listeners
will hear classical music from hosts Charles Andrews and
Alan Chapman.
Robert Conrad, president of Cleveland radio station WCLV
which has produced and distributed Adventures in Good
Music since 1970, said, “Throughout his broadcasting
career, Karl Haas had the knack of informing and delighting
his listeners with his vast knowledge of music, ranging from
humor to etiquette and everything in between. And who can
forget his penchant for punning the titles of his programs —
‘The Joy of Sax,’ ‘Baroque and in Debt,’ ‘May the Source be
With You’ and ‘No Stern Untoned.’ Karl leaves a valuable
legacy of music appreciation that is unparalleled.”
His longtime executive producer and editor Jane Johansen
said, “We have lost the world’s most passionate voice for
good music, Karl Haas. He was a dedicated musician who
shared his musical talents and passion for good music with
millions of people for decades. Listeners responded to his
“Hello, everyone” across international boundaries, across
socio-economic lines, across races, across religious
beliefs. His passing brings sorrow to generations of music
lovers.”
Haas was born on Dec. 6,
1913 in Speyer-on-the-Rhine, Germany, where his deep
appreciation for classical music began at the age of 6 with
his first piano lesson, given by his mother. Upon moving to
the United States at the age of 16, his family settled in
Detroit, where he taught piano, studied at Detroit’s Netzorg
School of Music and commuted to New York to study with the
renowned pianist Arthur Schnabel.
In 1950, Haas began his broadcasting career hosting a weekly
preview of Detroit Symphony Orchestra concerts on WWJ in
Detroit. In 1959, Adventures in Good Music was born
when WJR offered him the 10 a.m. prime time hour to create a
one-hour program of classical music and commentary. For two
decades it was Detroit’s No. 1 program in its time period.
In 1970, WCLV and Haas teamed up to produce and distribute
his program to radio stations worldwide.
From 1967 to 1971, Haas was president of the Interlochen
Academy of Arts in Interlochen, Mich. His book Inside
Music, published by Doubleday in 1984, is in its 10th
reprinting. From 1993 to 1995, Haas and WCLV produced and
released three best-selling compact discs – The Romantic
Piano, Story of the Bells, and Song and Dance.
Haas received many major awards, including two George Foster
Peabody Awards for excellence in broadcasting, and the
National Telemedia Award and Person of the Year award from
Boston’s WGBH. In 1962, he was one of a few Americans to be
decorated with the “Chevalier d’order des arts et letters.”
The French government also named him “Officer d’academie.”
In 1964, Haas received the First Class Order of Merit from
the Federal Republic of Germany for service in the cause of
cultural relations between the United States and West
Germany. He served as visiting professor at leading
universities in the U.S. and received eight honorary
doctorates in music, fine arts and humanities, among other
academic awards. In 1991, he was received at the White House
where President George H. W. Bush awarded him the National
Endowment for the Humanities prestigious Charles Frankel
Award. In 1997, he was the first classical personality to be
inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. And in 2000, he
received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fine Arts
Radio International Awards presented by Missouri Southern
State University.
Haas is survived by his daughter Alyce, sons Jeffrey and
Andrew, and grandchildren, Jessie Knox-Haas and Sophie Haas.
His wife Trudie preceded him in death in 1977.
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Contact:
Jim East, General Manager Network
Programming, Boise State Radio,
(208) 947-5659, jeast@boisestate.edu
Media Contact:
Kathleen Craven, communications and marketing, (208) 426-3275, kraven@boisestate.edu
Online at:
http://news.boisestate.edu
