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WRTI Welcomes New Afternoon Drive Classical Host, Kevin Gordon

Kevin Gordon is the new guy on WRTI!

What's the latest at WRTI? Kevin Gordon is now your new companion during the Afternoon Drive show, every weekday from 2 to 6 pm. Tune in and get to know Kevin! We're very excited to welcome him to our staff.

A veteran broadcaster, Kevin served as host on the classical music station WQXR in NYC for 15 years, and most recently was on the air at Classical South Florida WKCP, a station with frequencies in Miami, Naples, and West Palm Beach, until it folded last year. He also worked as a host for 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 in 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.
 

Kevin was inspired to paint this portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven after learning that he was selected to be WRTI's next Afternoon Drive 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.

He’s enthused about his newest challenge of charming listeners in the Philadelphia tri-state region. “I feel like I found my home at WRTI and in Philadelphia, and I’m really impressed with the rich backgrounds of my colleagues here at the station.”