- There are times when the arts can be considered kind of an elitist thing.

WKAR had a wonderful way of breaking that down and making the arts accessible.

- The classical music programming for WKAR fomented in the 1930s.

They reserved about 15 minutes per day highlighting a lot of the local orchestras to continue with that mission of community-oriented radio.

- It's in our hands to push this thing forward.

Here's to public television.

(audience cheers) - Local content creation here at WKAR has always been key.

The music department at Michigan State was really integral in providing talent for us.

We did a number of programs with faculty here on campus.

- For a lot of the early seventies you would have huge names that would get their start on WKAR.

- We had a fine arts producer named Dr. Donald Pash, who brought in some amazing performers.

One of the first productions I can remember working on here was featuring Emanuel Ax and Yo-yo Ma.

For a relatively small station in mid-Michigan to be able to provide that kind of content nationally was unusual.

- There was a realization in the late seventies and the early eighties that classical music was still a vital part of what WKAR radio wanted to be.

Dedicated programs to jazz and blues were added, and also a lot of folk programming that continues to be a big part of what WKAR radio means.

- I wanna, again, thank PBS and WKAR.

I'm so grateful for them, man.

- Bringing in more music, finding composers and performers that are more representative of the community means we are making sure that there is a voice for everybody.

Since each public broadcasting station is their own nucleus, they can be sure voices are being heard.