By Steve Baker

A little ”class” came to the Denver Lake Norman Rotary Club...Classical Music that is!

Do you like good music? How about classical music? The Denver Lake Norman Rotary welcomed Frank Dominguez as guest speaker on Wednesday, January 5th. Frank has been a familiar voice to the listeners of WDAV (89.9 FM) since 1994. The station is located on the Davidson College campus and serves the Charlotte, Gastonia, and Rock Hill areas.

Over the years, Frank has played a crucial part in the programming decisions at the station. During his tenure, WDAV has seen great growth in its fully professional on-air staff and local programming, from production of original series such as Carolina Live and Reel Music to the addition of the overnight Early Shift seven days a week - all great things for the classical music lover.   

Prior to coming to work for WDAV, Frank worked at another popular radio station in the local area, WFAE (90.7 FM). Frank began his radio career at WFAE and spent eight years hosting its popular Sunday evening music program, Nightscapes. In addition to all this Frank has worked extensively in local theaters as an actor and director, including productions for the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, CAST, Theatre Charlotte and Opera Carolina.

During his presentation, Frank showed the club members various charts related to the classical music demographics in our area. WDAV has many options for those who enjoy listening to classical music and learning about its history. On-line, WDAV.org shows the many programs on offer. The station works with a variety of groups and individuals and has supplied recorders to many school age children. A series of podcasts are offered daily to everyone. I logged on and heard a podcast on children’s classical music. I was surprised to hear music that I was familiar with. It told how the composer had put together music and what the intent of it was. If you think about it, there is classical music running in the background all day long - just listen for it.

Thanks again to Frank for starting our new year with a positive program about music and the sounds we hear every day but don’t give them a whole lot of thought.  Thanks also to Richard and Joanie Morgan, friends of Frank, for arranging his visit to our club.