Posts Categorized: News

In celebration of International Jazz Day, WMPG’s Jazz At the Movies (JAM) will be showing the film “Blue Note Records- Beyond the Notes” on Saturday April 29th at the Portland Conservatory of Music.  This movie is about the Blue Note Record label, but it is more about the Blue Note founders and the chemistry between them and the great musicians that recorded on this label.  This is truly a case where the musicians made the record label what…

Data Visualizations and Diversity in Maine-Evidence, Art, and Advocacy. An all-day symposium that takes an in-depth active learning approach to 40 data visualizations which first premiered at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. USM’s Dr. Beaudry talks with us about the event that happens Wednesday April 12th.

WMPG volunteer DJ Geo spoke with Dr. Nicolas Dosman and Dr. Rollo Dilworth about the Maine Premiere of “Weather” a concert for climate change and social justice. The concert takes place on Sunday, April 23, at 5pm, the Alfred and D. Suzi Osher School of Music at USM. The concert will feature the Osher Concert Ensembles conducted by Dr. Nicolas Dosman and the Osher Concert Band conducted by Dr. William Kinne. Also included in the…

Updated to show updated figure First a shout-out to everyone who have made the Spring Begathon a success. To  all who donated, answered  phones, put on fantastic radio shows, entered data, donated food and more we have a huge THANKS!  You all made it happen. We are still accepting donations on-line and hope to reach our goal in a week or two. You can wmpg.org , in person, by phone at (207) 780-4151, or via mail….

The University of Southern Maine’s Department of Theatre cordially invites you to Eurydice Rising, created in collaboration with the Osher School of Music. Eurydice Rising reimagines one of Ancient Greece’s most iconic myths of Orpheus and Eurydice in theatre, opera, and dance. This beautiful, moving show is a feast for the eye and ears as it follows Orpheus’s journey into the underworld to be reunited with his young bride, Eurydice, after her death. It’s a story of love,…

We continue our series were we get to know the varied and interesting people who make up USM. WMPG student intern Tash Schneiderat spoke with a few members of FASOC. You’ll hear from Kiva Wright-Berry, Keith Danner, Larissa Malone, and Michelle Vazquez-Jacobus.       Leola-Christina is a freshman who just began her studies here at USM this January! Wait til you hear more about her interests and goals, please listen to our audio interview…

There has been fun and drama at WMPG HQ during our Spring fundraising! DJ Perky ( Perky’s Auditory Canal ) came up with a song for Begathon to the tune of Help! by the Beatles.  Have a watch! DJ Perky singing Help! In other news, it was big drama with Bat-a-thon.  WMPG had a resident bat which had DJ Shaxx crawling across the floor in horror to escape the cute little winged mammal. From being sighted in our basement vinyl vault to thinking we trapped…

We are excited to be a media sponsor for somewhere/elsewhere Commissioned Maine Artist by Portland Ovations Thursday, March 23, 2023, 7 PM Westbrook Performing Arts Center somewhere/elsewhere is a one-night-only concert reading of a new pop-rock musical that immerses us in the migration, losses, and triumphs of a contemporary Turkish immigrant to the U.S. Weaving together Turkish poetry and legend with the original sounds of major label rock band Thanks to Gravity, somewhere/elsewhere is a…

You may have noticed that we no longer have CPB underwriting announcements read after some of our programs. This is due to WMPG no longer receiving this funding. For more than 20 years WMPG has received this funding but last year we lost the funding due to no longer meeting their qualifications. Radio stations like ours need to meet certain criteria to be funded including the number of listeners as measured by a ratings agency,…

University of Southern Maine (USM) President Dr Jacqueline Edmondson dropped in to WMPG to be a guest on USM, Music & ME on Wednesday. Dr Edmondson is a music fan who has authored many books, including two on musicians Gerry Garcia and John Lennon.  We were unsure what musical choices to expect. Here is what she shared with us: DAYS LIKE THIS by Van Morrison“I picked the song ‘Days Like This’ for a number of reasons. Most importantly, this song…

Leola-Christina is a freshman who just began her studies here at USM this January! Wait til you hear more about her interests and goals, please listen to our audio interview with her.

We had a chance to speak with Dr. Glenn who is USM’s Vice President of Equality, Inclusion and Community Impact

WMPG will introduce you to students, faculty and staff that are making a difference here at USM. We present an audio interview with Yasmin Idow, please enjoy and meet this wonderful young person.

WMPG’s annual Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras and the Cajun Cookin’ Contest. On Tuesday February 21st in the USM Abromson building on the Portland campus, WMPG presented our 27th annual Mardi Gras Cajun Cookin’ Contest! The room was filled with amazing food, music and people as we celebrated Mardi Gras! After taking a break due to the pandemic, it was exiting to be celebrating again with our USM community along with people from all parts of…

USM students Emma and Jordan went around campus and recorded some Valentine’s dedications!

If anybody knows about Mardi Gras, it’s trombonist and bandleader Delfeayo Marsalis , who will be Dave’s special guest on Juke Jive N’ Jazz this afternoon, (Feb.15th) New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, is alive and happening, and Delfeayo will be here to tell you about it and his brand new album, “Uptown on Mardi Gras Day” Marsalis talks about race, Mardi Gras, film scores and more.. Tune in at 1 PM, Wednesday, for Delfeayo Marsalis and some great New…

Our Jazz at the Movies team are back with another free screening.  “Leroy Jones- A Man and His Trumpet” celebrating New Orleans shining heritage as the Birthplace of Jazz. The screening is at the Portland Conservatory of Music, on Saturday, February 18th, 7 PM. Tix are FREE but reservations recommended:   https://www.eventbrite.com/…/wmpg-jazz-at-the-movies-a… …

Our University of Southern Maine (USM) students and DJ’s are honoring Black History Month at WMPG. This year’s theme is Black Resistance. You will hear specially curated playlists from DJ’s.  Our students are producing audio which will highlight achievements and contributions, including pre-colonial history plus profiles of contemporary figures recognizing people from politics, education, pop culture, sports and other areas. Shows honoring Black History Month (this list will be updated) Lagniappe (Mon 10am) Mind Fuzz…

Beginning Tuesday January 17th, you will hear new shows alongside your favorites – some have moved into different times and days. Why are we mixing things up? WMPG is turning 50 this year, and we wanted to return to our roots, offering radio that is surprising, eclectic, and truly local. We are radio made by community and University of Southern Maine members.  Thanks for being the world’s best listeners!  Take a peek at our new schedule.

WMPG Wrapped 2022 by Caroline Davis (USM Theatre Student and Work Study) As 2022 comes to a close, we here at WMPG would like to thank our volunteers, business supporters, listeners, and the community of the University of Southern Maine (USM) for their support. It’s been a very successful year for us, and we could not have achieved everything we have without your support. We’ve been very lucky to have had such a successful year for fundraising here at WMPG….