David Zeplin, Patron & Volunteer
When I came in for an interview, they asked 'How would you describe your knowledge of music?', and I said 'Very broad and extremely shallow'.
I presented Mozart and Friends for five years. I loved it. It is a period of music that I think is terrific and I enjoyed playing things that I thought people would enjoy.
One night, Tony Thomas who hosts Contemporary Visions, had a piece playing. I was down in the library, and we decided to increase the volume. I came up to the studio and the phone rang. A voice on the other end of the phone said,' I’m 90 and I’m having trouble with my speakers I can hardly hear anything'. I said 'There is no problem with your radio my colleague is playing a fairly repetitive modern piece by Philip Glass. There’s good news though, I said, it only has three minutes to go'.
I think the standards at 3MBS have improved because the training has improved, we are much more professional than we were when I started.
3MBS has expanded the scope of what we do in the Melbourne music scene. We do concert programs like the English Music Festival and the programs we did in 2024 like Music she Wrote with women composers and performers; it’s like a Musica Viva with all the concerts we do.
I went to the General Manager the other day and said, ‘Don’t tell anyone this, but I’d probably pay money to come here.’
On a Friday there has been a development during 2024, which I call ‘Friday frolics.’ Between 1-3pm Matthew Toulmin or I are presenting Concert Hall and then there’s Reflections for an hour, then Neil Appleby comes in to do Intermezzo at 4pm. We have been known to crack a bottle of wine and have a drink. Sometimes I have had to remind Neil it’s five to four 'Don’t you think you better get into the studio?' We do have a lot of fun at 3MBS.
My personal brief is to extend a fairly conservative listenership’s experience with music without going too over the top. Also, I want to expand my own knowledge. After being at 3MBS for eight years my knowledge is broad but not so shallow.