KWAX Classical Oregon: Overall goals and approach to address community issues, needs, interests
KWAX is an all-classical music station with no news operation. Listeners frequently comment that we are their "safe haven" from the news of the day. KWAX addresses community issues like homelessness, community health, and feeding the hungry through self-produced PSAs and live reads of pertinent portions of press releases. The station’s music director makes frequent appearances at local events and festivals as a pre-performance host and lecturer. We offer local arts groups access to a complimentary "arts line" where their recorded message about their performances provides otherwise unavailable publicity and awareness.
Key initiatives and collaborative partners
KWAX has partnered with many local and regional professional arts groups. KWAX and the world-renowned Oregon Bach Festival are both part of the University of Oregon and enjoy a rich history of partnership. During the 2024 Festival, KWAX aired daily “Bach Minutes,” produced messages that provided background on the significance and history of that day's scheduled performances.
“KWAX Presents” is in its sixth year of airing professionally recorded and produced performances by various local and regional professional arts groups, including the Eugene Symphony, Oregon Mozart Players, High Desert Chamber Music, Eugene Concert Choir, Newport Symphony, Corvallis OSU Symphony (part of the Oregon State University music program) and others. KWAX Presents offers listeners who otherwise may not have the mobility or means to attend performances by professional arts groups in the communities we serve.
KWAX also partners with the University of Oregon on various efforts to connect the campus community with the community at large through station sponsored lectures and events. These include free and open to the public discussions at various local venues, the University's Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and the Oregon Humanities Center.
Local governments have banded together to form the Arts and Business Alliance of Lane County. KWAX partners with that entity to promote their annual Arts Fair. Their mission is to enhance partnerships between the business and arts communities for the advancement of both.
Impacts of collaboration on key initiatives
KWAX has been instrumental in driving attendance for a number of important local initiatives:
- Generating volunteers for the winter Egan Warming Center program of overnight shelters for homeless open during sub-freezing weather.
- Creating awareness for a free weekend of medical/dental treatment for the underserved and uninsured in our community.
- Generating awareness for free lectures presented by the Oregon Humanities Center, continued adult learning opportunities through UO’s Osher Learning Institute, and cultural heritage exhibits at the Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
- Helping to generate donations for the Oregon Cultural Trust, a state nonprofit corporation with arts partners like KWAX, that provides donor tax credits while supporting arts, heritage, and humanities projects in Oregon.
Service to minority audiences and inclusive programming initiatives
KWAX broadcasts in English but airs a diverse array of classical programming from a variety of genres and cultural influences. Examples include the Metropolitan Opera with many performances in Italian and some in German, The Spanish Hour, which focuses on Iberian, Latino, and Hispanic composers old and new, and Curtis Calls, which features performances by young students at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music. The music director is a noted "musicologist" who speaks several languages.
Composers and performers’ names and their compositions are presented with strict regard for correct pronunciation.
We are also part of an effort by the State Emergency Alert System to develop the ability to broadcast EAS messages in Spanish or Spanish text as well as English as a service to listeners with limited English skills.
Special programming modules air weekly during Black History month in February, focusing on African American composers, performers, and conductors. Feminine Fusion is a weekly program that pays tribute to female composers and performers. Classics for Kids is a weekly program and interactive website that introduces youth to classical music and composers.
Impacts of the loss of CPB funding
FY 2024 was the seventh year that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting provided funding for KWAX. The funding had been instrumental in providing service to both our primary local audience and much needed maintenance to key remote transmitters and translators that serve our rural communities. In the absence of the community service grant, KWAX will examine options including limiting our breadth of coverage and the number of constituents served.
Updated 10/21/2025