Singer-songwriter Chris Isaak; global affairs anchor for ABC News Christiane Amanpour; NBC Sports "Voice of Sunday Night Football" Al Michaels; and City Winery founder Michael Dorf complete the star-studded lineup of award recipients at WFUV Radio's Fifth Annual Spring Gala on Thursday night, May 10, at Gotham Hall (1356 Broadway) in New York City. Here are the awards, and what they're saying about receiving the hardware from WFUV, Fordham University's 50,000-watt, powerhouse National Public Radio Station:
Chris Isaak: WFUV's "Artist of the Year" and the WFUV Sound & Vision Award recipient: "I am honored anytime my name is mentioned on radio without the phrase 'last seen driving a blue chevy.' This whole thing may be a mistake but I'm keeping the trophy!"
Christiane Amanpour: the Charles Osgood Lifetime Achievement Award in Broadcast Journalism: "I'm delighted and honored to win this award. It's a reminder, through the example of Charles Osgood, that great storytelling as well as persistently searching for the truth is the best kind journalism."
Al Michaels: the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting: There's nothing better than receiving an honor with Vin Scully's name attached to it. I've been listening to Vin since I was six or seven years old growing up in Brooklyn and he's been a tremendous inspiration."
Michael Dorf: the inaugural WFUV Community Service Award: "I am honored to be honored by my favorite radio station. Like WFUV, as a presenter of music, I am always juggling art and commerce. I support WFUV because I understand that we need commerce to feed the arts, and the arts to feed our souls."
The benefit in support of New York's "Rock and Roots" public radio station will be held at Gotham Hall in New York City. An anticipated audience of more than 400 donors will be treated to a performance by the musically-rich and high-energy Chris Isaak, accompanied by his full band. The set is expected to include a performance of his best-known song "Wicked Game" from his debut album Silvertone, and brand-new music from his latest album Beyond the Sun.
In lasting tribute to legendary broadcasters Charles Osgood and Vin Scully, both of whom started their careers at WFUV, the station established two annual Lifetime Achievement Awards in their names in 2008, and they were the inaugural recipients.
The annual gala, now in its fifth year, has raised more than $2 million for WFUV. These much-needed funds enable WFUV, a public radio station broadcasting from Fordham University in The Bronx, to provide a unique blend of music, news and sports services, and to train the next generation of broadcasting talent.
WFUV Radio's Annual Gala 2012 will begin with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m., followed at 7 p.m. by dinner, awards and live entertainment. The Gala will be held at Gotham Hall in New York City. Attire is "festive." Individual tickets are $1,000 and $2,500; tables are $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $75,000. For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, please visit www.wfuv.org/gala, email infoevents@fordham.edu or call (212) 930-8898.
New York's Rock and Roots station WFUV (90.7 FM, www.wfuv.org) is a noncommercial, member-supported radio station, licensed to Fordham University for more than 60 years, serving approximately 300,000 weekly listeners throughout the New York metropolitan area and thousands more worldwide on the Web. The station has a full-time professional staff of 28, who work alongside and mentor a staff of 70 Fordham students.
WFUV has received national recognition for its award-winning weekday format of adult album alternative music, known as Rock and Roots, news from NPR, and a diverse weekend lineup. This programming is augmented by The Alternate Side, a 24/7 HD Radio channel and web stream that draws on New York's burgeoning indie music scene. The station typically garners more than 20 prestigious awards each year for its music, news, public affairs and sports programs. In partnership with NPR, the station's daily "Take Five" music features and weekly album reviews are available as podcasts, while select studio sessions with leading artists are posted at NPRMusic.org. WFUV's own robust web site has extensive audio archives, song playlists, an events calendar, blog and other resources.
Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in Westchester, the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y., and the London Centre at Heythrop College in the United Kingdom.
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