Dear Music Insiders,
Remember COVID? That bizarre time actually contained a bright spot for me… and her name is Ariana Morgenstern. It was April 2020. I was in the role of KCRW Music Director while also hosting Morning Becomes Eclectic, and Ariana was producing… from my home studio, also a basement of sorts, aka “KCRW East.” Yes, we were somehow, at least figuratively, back in the KCRW basement, at the height of COVID chaos, with all the grocery wipe-downs and 3 PM happy hours.
As Covid took hold that very long April, MBE was the last regular show to move out of KCRW HQ. Ariana and I decided to pod together — an obvious decision, as I certainly couldn’t do the show without her. Not podding was not an option. Her humor, whip-smart wit, and determined positivity made MBE better, and made a terrible situation actually low-key fun.
At this very moment, I’m sitting in KCRW East, looking at the collage of post-its that Ariana wrote each day during that time, which I then pasted on my monitors and the studio walls. Most are a little too “colorful” for publication here, but suffice to say, I still crack up every time I read them.
This past Tuesday, Ariana announced that after 43 years of magic-making and fort-holding at KCRW, she will be retiring at the top of the summer. Alongside Ruth Seymour, our founder and GM, Ariana has been entirely foundational to KCRW’s identity and continued existence. She is our backbone and our ballast. Our conscience and our heart. There is nobody more fierce and funny at the K, and frankly, in all of public radio.
In addition to moi, Ariana has tamed and trained five unruly Music Directors (looking at you Schnabel, Douridas, Harcourt, Bentley, and Cohen) and put together thousands, yes, thousands, of now legendary live sessions, from booking to production to broadcast. And you have been on the other end, to enjoy them, dance in your kitchen, and sing in your car, discovering new artists to love and share.
Our president, Jennifer Ferro, wrote this to the KCRW staff:
While Ariana was never on the air, everyone knows her name. Credited as MBE producer for at least three decades, she was the engine behind the impact of MBE and KCRW Music. Every label knows who she is. Every DJ. So many artists and venues do too. She has the deepest rolodex of anyone I know and fearless for asking for tickets, sweepstakes and special giveaways for KCRW.
I’d also add that she is fearless in her support of artists and the local LA music scene and economy, something that seems ever-more significant in our current era.
Speaking of Ariana’s fearlessness — and her rolodex — it was during that time in 2020 that Ariana picked up the phone one morning to call our then-neighbor, David Lynch. Casually, creatively, she asked him if he would do a daily weather report for KCRW. Because they were friends, it sounded fun, the days crawled by, and why not? COVID was an overall bummer, and she thought our audience (you) could use some cheering up! And that, friends, was the beginning of our beloved “blue skies and golden sunshine all along the way” era. David Lynch Theater Presents The Weather, just one of 43 years of magic moments on KCRW, produced by Ariana Morgenstern.
This is the commencement of months of toasts to Ariana from me, my colleagues, and you. Since she shared the news with us this week, we wanted you, Music Insiders, to know first as well.
Much love,
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