Kevin Gordon
Former Classical HostA veteran broadcaster, Kevin garnered a wealth of experience in radio before taking the weekday classical host position from 2 to 6 PM at WRTI, where he was on the air until his retirement in March 2023.
He served as host on the classical music station WQXR in NYC for 15 years, on Classical South Florida WKCP in Miami, and on WINS, NBC News, and the RKO Radio Network, all in New York.
In addition to his experience in radio, Kevin has performed comedy on the ABC Radio Network and narrated programs at New York’s Hayden Planetarium, Rochester’s Strasenbergh Planetarium and the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias in Valencia, Spain. He appeared onstage at the Kennedy Center in a two-person program about Pablo Casals, and at Lincoln Center Out of Doors as the host of A Salute to Old Time Radio. Kevin has been the host of New York City’s Bryant Park Festivals, and has appeared onstage in various theatrical productions.
When he’s not on the air, or on the stage, Kevin enjoys a prominent career as a fine artist and portrait painter with works on display at numerous universities — including Columbia, Dartmouth, and the University of Michigan — and at hospitals and private collections throughout the country. His illustrations appear in books of all types, including his own best-selling, The Good Cigar. He's quite a talented guy!
Kevin grew up in Rochester, New York in a home filled with music and art. Is he a musician? “I play piano and guitar badly,” he quips. “But I try.” How did he break into classical music hosting? At WQXR, he originally started out in the news department, and then developed a background and passion for classical music, and transitioned in the ‘90s to classical host.
Favorite composer? “Beethoven. I really connect with him.” Kevin is so fascinated with the composer that he went to Vienna to visit all of the apartments that Beethoven lived in. “He was a bad tenant – he got kicked out a lot, so I was busy!”
Kevin also wrote a book about conductor George Szell, filled with anecdotes.
As he puts it, he has been — at one time or another — a television weatherman, a nightclub magician, a private pilot, and an amateur bullfighter. Kevin's wife is a licensed acupuncturist, and his son is an Emmy Award-winning actor.
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April 4, 2021. Holocaust Remembrance Day is April 8th, so this week we turn to the music of 20th-century, Bohemian-born composer Walter Kaufmann, who… -
March 1, 2021. We're kicking off our celebration of Women's History Month with sparkling music by Schumann and Mendelssohn presented by The Nash Ensemble… -
Hail to the Chief! Flix@5, on WRTI every weekday after the news at 5 PM, salutes U.S. Presidents the week of February 15th with movies that cover more… -
January 25th, 2021. Michael Tilson Thomas is artistic director and founder of Miami's New World Symphony, music director laureate of the San Francisco… -
December 7, 2020. What do Antonio Vivaldi and Astor Piazzola have in common? The German violinist Arabella Steinbacher. Her new album Four Seasons… -
November 16, 2020. Vienna was the place to be in the year 1900. It was a time of cross-fertilization of intellectual life. Sigmund Freud psychoanalyzed… -
When I’m not spending afternoons with you on WRTI, I paint. My paintings, mostly portraits, are in public and private collections both here and abroad.… -
When composer Bernard Herrmann made the move from New York to Hollywood in 1951 to score the film, The Day The Earth Stood Still, he already had a taste… -
The Martians are coming! Join us the week of October 26th leading up to Halloween for some super scary and extraterrestrial classical and jazz fun on… -
August 31, 2020. “Wow!” That word burst from John Williams’ lips at the finish of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of “The Imperial March."…
