Au revoir, Peter Hall!

After twenty years of presenting music to listeners 5 days a week, Peter Hall is hanging up his microphone and (as he would put it) retiring…“mostly.” The affable and precise program host we’ve all come to know will end his weekday broadcasts on Friday, February 16.

Goldie Gardner originally brought Peter to WNED Classical to put his marketing expertise to work for the Development Department. But, after hearing Peter on the air during pledge drives, WNED Classical Program Director Peter Goldsmith asked Peter if he would consider work as a program host. Hall’s first assignment was as host of CD Saturday. Some longtime listeners may recall that putting Peter on the air began the era of the infamous “Peter-Prone” Saturday-- Peter’s CD Saturday was followed by Peter Allen-hosted broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera, which were followed by Peter Goldsmith’s Saturday Afternoon Classics, right before A Prairie Home Companion which was followed by…you guessed it… Peter Schickele, host of Schickele Mix.

Over the course of 20 years, Peter’s distinctive voice and wit have been heard by over a million listeners as host of CD Saturday, Mid-Day Classics, and Afternoon Classics on WNED Classical.

Peter will be “mostly” missed. He will continue to produce, write and host the weekly program Buffalo Philharmonic Live. Not one for abandonment, he will continue to co-host Theater Talk, with Anthony Chase. The pair can be heard surveying the theatrical scene each week on WBFO and WNED Classical. It is a comfort to know that listeners can still hear Peter each week. It’s like the ocean liner “Queen Mary” coming into her home port: Even if you stop the engines, there still must be a little thrust to gently ease the great ship up to the wharf. That’s why we say “au revoir,” Peter, not “goodbye.”