WARM-UP FOR WINTER WITH AZPM THIS NOVEMBER

posted by Jack Gibson

Please join us for the first Mister Rogers’ Sweater Drive November 1-7. This drive carries on Fred Rogers’ giving spirit by helping children and their families share clothing with those who need it. Sweaters can be new, or clean and gently-worn. Both adult and children’s sweaters are welcome, and they will be donated to the clothing banks at our local school systems. Drop off a sweater to any Shaffers Dry Cleaning location, or join AZPM and McDonald’s for the finale at UA Homecoming from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the UA Mall November 7th where there will be lots of family-friendly activities in our tent. Special thanks to our partners Shaffers Dry Cleaning, McDonalds, Diamond Ventures, and Horizon Moving Systems.

All eyes are on PBS this November for some amazing programs. Starting November 3 at 8 p.m. and continuing each Tuesday for three weeks, join us for Nova’s Becoming Human, a comprehensive three-part, three-hour special - investigating explosive new discoveries that are transforming the picture of how we became human. We’ll entertain you all month long with humor through the Mark Twain Prize honoring those who make us laugh like Bill Cosby, Neil Simon, and Billy Crystal on Sundays with encores throughout the month.

We also honor our Native American history this month with special encore presentations of the We Shall Remain series from PBS, and the locally produced Native American student documentaries. Check our schedules page for show times.

Thanks to you, I’m also pleased to report that our radio stations just completed phenomenal membership drives. NPR, KUAZ-FM raised $214,663, a 16.5% increase in dollars over last year, from 2120 pledges. Classical raised $70,183, a 35.7% increase in dollars over last year, from 662 pledges, an increase of 21.2% over last year. These are wonderful numbers and a wonderful testimony to the value our community places on the many services we provide.

Arizona Public Media also took home six Emmy Awards. Producer Sooyeon Lee Johnston is the big Emmy winner in 2009 with three Emmy Awards for her work covering the arts scene in Southern Arizona. Videographer and producer Dan Duncan along with producer Pamela White won an Emmy for Wavelengths 4: Paths of Life in the category of Informational and Instructional content. WaveLengths is the science program from Arizona Public Media now in its second season. And producer Luis Carrión earned an Emmy for his story, Tucson Islamic Community, in Religion, News Single Story category. Congratulations to everyone!

STARS SHINE IN OCTOBER, SOME PLANETS, TOO.

posted by Jack Gibson

For our Classical music fans, in October we invite you to join us for the second annual 20th-21st century composers festival, “Ives/Copland and the American Spirit Music Festival (The Fathers of American Concert Music)” at The University of Arizona. The Festival will include four concerts and an introductory symposium, providing a rich panorama of the music of these two progenitors of American music. The entire School of Music will be engaged, with performances including the Arizona Symphony Orchestra, UA Wind Ensemble, Arizona Choir, Arizona Contemporary Ensemble, and faculty from the wind, string, voice, and piano areas. Additional information is available at www.music.arizona.edu.

On television, you won’t want to miss Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto the Ice, documenting the experiences of the people responsible for the success of the Phoenix Mars Mission. The one-hour program premieres Tuesday, October 13th at 9 p.m. on PBS-HD channels 6 and 27. From practice landings and simulations to real-life and the heart-pounding "seven minutes of terror" for the spacecraft’s decent onto the planet’s surface, Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto the Ice follows Principal Investigator Peter H. Smith and the rest of the Phoenix Lander team as they work to successfully land an exploratory vehicle on Mars for the first time in over a decade.

Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto the Ice picks up where the last Phoenix Mars Mission documentary left off, just after the exciting launch from Earth. Onto the Ice will be released to public television stations nationally, in early 2010.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate our terrific staff on some exciting news. Arizona Public Media’s staff earned 13 Emmy nominations in seven categories. The 2009 Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards ceremony will be held Oct. 24 in Phoenix, when winners will be announced. Also, KUAZ 89.1 our NPR affiliate again won the Tucson Weekly Best of Tucson award for “Best Radio Station for News.”

Our team works hard to bring you the best locally produced programs, none of which would be possible without your continued support. On behalf of our entire team, thank you.

Sincerely,

Jack Gibson
Director and General Manager
Arizona Public Media®