John Cleghorn, Patron & Volunteer
I was approaching retirement and realised I needed something to do. I had always been interested and involved in musical activities and I thought 3MBS would be something interesting to become involved with.
My current role is presenting the Wednesday afternoon Concert Hall program from 1 to 4pm. I also join the bundlers who are a small group of people who prepare programs for those who still require CDs. All the CDs for the programs are put together in boxes by the bundlers. We treat presenters very well here.
For 18 months I recorded the program of one of our older presenters, Peter Larson, who could no longer go to air live and so I recorded and edited his program. Sometimes he would get lost, and I could keep him on track and edit what needed to be cut. I really enjoyed this. He was a most interesting man—a raconteur full of wonderful stories. I still tell some of them at parties.
Generally, 3MBS is a very positive environment. You would think an organisation that relies on the work of volunteers would be a recipe for disaster and inefficiency, but it is not like that at all.
I really enjoyed the pre-recorded Illuminations program which we had for a while. I did three programs on Brahms’s chamber music, and I learnt a lot through that program. I also did two programs on organ music. I am an organist, and I didn’t know what to play so I decided to personalise it and talk about my own repertoire. You need good repertoire if you are going to be a church organist.
I really appreciate the variety of talent evident at 3MBS. If you want to know something at 3MBS you just need to talk loudly enough, and someone will know. The range of expertise is quite phenomenal. Not just in music or literature, there are people with expertise in science and engineering as well. There is such a breadth of knowledge at the station. The knowledge I had of music when I first came here is infinitesimally small compared with what I know now.