John Schaefer is an American radio host and author. A longtime host at

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

, Schaefer began hosting the influential radio shows ''

New Sounds ''New Sounds'' was originally a 10" LP compiling previously released 78 rpm records on the Blue Note label. A CD reissue with the same name and cover appeared in 1991, but while using many of the same personnel, had only two tracks in common with ...

'' in 1982 and ''

Soundcheck A sound check is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small port ...

'' in 2002, and has produced many different programs for other

New York Public Radio New York Public Radio (NYPR) is the owner of WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WNYC Studios, WQXR-FM, New Jersey Public Radio, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. Combined, New York Public Radio owns WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WQXR-FM, WQXW, WNJT-FM, WNJP ...

platforms. Schaefer is also the author of the book '' New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music'', first published in 1987.

Early life and education

Schaefer was born and raised in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York. He attended

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in the Bronx, from which he graduated in 1980.

Career

Broadcast Journalism

Schaefer began his career in radio in the late 1970s at

WFUV WFUV (90.7 FM) is a non–commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Fordham University, with studios on its Bronx campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. WFUV first went on the air ...

, which was then a student-run

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

station at

. By the time he graduated, he was the station's programming director, after which he spent one year at a classical station in Portland, Maine before returning to New York and joining WNYC in 1981. Schaefer began developing his genre-spanning music program ''New Sounds'' in early 1982, with the show premiering that September.

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

has called the show "The No. 1 radio show for the Global Village" and it has been syndicated by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

as well as by stations in Australia and Taiwan."John Schaefer , Host"
WNYC. He began the ''New Sounds Live'' concert series in 1986. In 2002, be began hosting the art and music talk radio show ''

'' for WNYC. He had composer

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

as a guest on his ''Soundcheck'' show in 2009. Also for WNYC, Schaefer hosts the segment "Gig Alerts" for the news program ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...

''. From January 2016 until January 2017, Schaefer hosted the podcast ''LPR Live'' which showcased live performances from the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

music venue

(Le) Poisson Rouge (Le) Poisson Rouge (often referred to as LPR) is a music venue and multimedia art cabaret in New York City founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of the Village Gate at 158 Bleecker Street. The performance space was ...

. The show was broadcast on the digital station Q2, the online affiliate of the classical music station WQXR which, like WYNC, is owned by the non-profit

(NYPR). Later in 2017, Schaefer joined WQXR to host the weekly show ''The Furthermore'' and continues to advise on Q2. In 2018, NYPR announced that they were expanding ''New Sounds'' into its own online platform. While Schafer's programs continued to be broadcast on their original stations, the New Sounds "online destination" collected most of Schafer's programs into one place. With this expansion, Schafer also began hosting a new titular online radio station as well. Just a year later, it was reported that all of the New Sounds programming would be dropped by NYPR and Schaefer's shows would no longer be broadcast by WNYC nor WQXR. After more than a week of outcry by the public and musicians, with many calling Schaefer a vital part of the New York music scene, NYPR announced that they would be retaining New Sounds and all of its affiliated programs. Composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

has been quoted saying, "'For we who live in New York to have chaeferin the position he's in at the radio station, that's amazing... There are very few professional music people -- not only musicians, but writers about music -- who you can really truly say have an open, expansive horizon. And he does."

Print Journalism

Schaefer published his first book in 1987, ''New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music'' (New York:

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 1987). For

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, he wrote the book ''New Sounds: the Virgin Guide to New Music'', published in 1990. He has contributed to ''The Cambridge Companion to Singing'' (2000) and to ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' and ''

Ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

'' magazines. Schaefer has written liner notes for more than 100 albums, including for

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

and

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...

. He is also one of the compilation producers on the various artists ''Invocation'' album.

Personal life

Schaefer is passionate about horse racing. He grew up near the

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...

in Queens and spent summers with his family in Saratoga Springs at the

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actua ...

. He contributed to the 2006 anthology ''Bloodlines: A Horse Racing Anthology''.

Original programs

* ''New Sounds'' (WNYC); since 1982 * ''Soundcheck'' (WNYC); since 2002 * ''Gig Alerts'' (WNYC); ''Morning Edition'' segment * ''LPR Live'' (Q2/WQXR); podcast produced 2016/2017 * ''The Furthermore'' (WQXR); since 2017 * ''Carnegie Hall Live'' (Carnegie Hall/WQXR); 2018, thirteen-part series co-hosted with Jeff Spurgeon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaefer, John Living people American radio journalists American reporters and correspondents American talk radio hosts Year of birth missing (living people) WFUV people