CIPC, July 31

You have to be quiet backstage during a piano competition. No jokes, no tap dancing in the hallways. Complete attention must be paid even backstage, as the audience does out front, as five pianists performed in the afternoon and four in the evening sessions on the first day of the Cleveland International Piano Competition. The broadcast booth at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium is sandwiched between the recording operation and the Greenroom, where pianists warm-up at the grand piano, change their clothes, and grab some snacks.

Backstage @ CIPC

Backstage at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Queen of the Morn will be listening to performances onstage along with you, plus blogging from the booth. WCLV's wall-to-wall coverage begins Wednesday, July 31st, at 1 EDT on 104/9, streaming at wclv.org.

Literally, Play by Play at the Cleveland International Piano Competition

WCLV brings you wall-to-wall coverage of the Cleveland International Piano Competition July 31 - August 11. You'll hear every note in your home, car, office, and on your radio, computer, transistor radio or other wireless device. The voices you hear on WCLV -- Robert Conrad, Bill O'Connell, John Simna, Mark Satola, Jim Mehrling and yours truly -- will call the play by play from the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium. The finals will be held at Severance Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra. Who will your favorite pianist be?

Play-by-Play of the Cleveland International Piano Competition

WCLV will bring wall-to-wall coverage of the Cleveland International Piano Competition to your home, office, car, iPhone, transistor radio and other wireless devices July 31 - August 11 on 104.9. Solo rounds will take place at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium, with the finals at Severance Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra. The voices you hear on WCLV -- Robert Conrad, Bill O'Connell, Mark Satola, John Simna, Jim Mehrling and yours truly, will be your play-by-play announcers. Who will be your favorite contestant? Hear it all on 104.9 & wclv.org.

Lunch at the Palm Court

Imagine the Idea Center's Smith Studio, which faces Euclid Avenue, full of potted palm trees and music for WCLV's "Nosh at Noon" live concert Wednesday, June 26. Music by Ravel, Gershwin and Schumann will be on the program. Actually, there won't be any palm trees. But the music is legit. Will you come? Bring your lunch. I'll be there, talking WCLV listeners out of their carrot sticks and chips.

Live and Uncensored

WCLV broadcasts so many live concerts, it's difficult for we Radioquarians to keep track. Last Thursday, we featured guitarist Jason Vieaux in the KeyBank Studio here at the Idea Center at Playhouse Square. On April 25th, we offered a day of live music at the Music Settlement on the occasion of its centennial. This summer is the Cleveland International Piano Competition, which you will hear from beginning to end on 104.9 beginning in July. And also in July, from Oberlin, the annual Cooper International Competition, which alternates between piano and violin, is in its violin year. We will bring you live coverage of the semi-final round from Oberlin's Warner Concert Hall. The final rounds of both competitions will be at Severance Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra. Do tune in to hear these exceptional young performers on 104.9 & wclv.org. Check back for more live concerts coming up on WCLV.

De-Cluttering, then Re-Cluttering the Radioquarium

Radio studios, like pockets, briefcases and cars, attract papers, pens, paperclips and random notes that made sense once but now do not. Since 4 people use the control room in the course of a day, something lost can linger undisturbed. Announcers see something lying on the counter, figure it belongs to someone who will claim it, then a week later, it's still there, in the same position, untouched. After a week, I pitch it, unrepentant. The announcer taketh away, and the announcer giveth. In cleaning my desk, I recently discovered what remained of large, rolled-up sheets of peel-and-stick aquatic decor, sent to me by WCLV listeners in 2011 shortly after the station moved to the Idea Center in Cleveland's Playhouse Square district. Since our new control room was 50% glass, I called it the "Radioquarium." People in the hallway passed the control room, stopped, backed up, and did a double-take at the red, blue and green fish, seaweed, starfish, octopus, tiny goldfish and rocks on the glass, through which they saw the announcer at work. They shook their heads, laughed and went on their way. I reluctantly removed the decor when I got wind that some humorless colleagues were unenthusiastic about it. Yesterday, I discovered I hadn't put up ALL of it in the first place. So fish, dolphins, and starfish are back in business, in the depths of the Radioquarium. It pays to be a pack rat.