29,000…. that’s how many CDs WXXI Classical has in its collection – a collection that has been made possible over 50 years by listeners and supporters. These CDs are played on CD players that are much fancier than the ones you may have at home. They are used more than 40 hours a week, and while WXXI’s engineers have been creative in keeping them operational, they won’t last forever. These professional model CD players are no longer being manufactured because new music is available digitally. WXXI Classical has seen the deterioration of their collection as the silver backings of many of the CDs have tarnished, making them unplayable. So, to protect and preserve this collection, the station must look at digitizing it.
“These CDs offer an amazing wealth of knowledge,” explains WXXI Classical music director Mona Seghatoleslami. “I would hate for the change in technology to change our programming. Listeners should have the full, rich experience of the diversity of the music, of historical, of famous, of new, of old, of different performances, performances by Rochester artists – all of that.”
“We want to keep doing what we do, and grow what we do, because your experience as a listener, your embrace of the world, should not be limited by technical format changes or how they decide to release music.”
Digitizing the library means generations of listeners will be able to enjoy the rich history of this expansive collection for years to come. That’s where Sarah Chasey comes in. With the generous donation of longtime member and supporter Laura Humphrey, the station was able to hire Sarah on contract for a few hundred hours to move along the project that will take many years to complete.
After earning a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from Nazareth College, Sarah attended the Manhattan School of Music for grad school, where she studied vocal performance. She started working part-time at the Peter Jay Sharp Library at the Manhattan School of Music in various library departments and eventually landed a job in interlibrary loan cataloging and technical services, which dealt with lots of vocal scores and orchestral scores. She worked at the library for 15 years before moving back home to Rochester with her husband and their three-year-old. After seeing a recent advertisement that WXXI Classical was looking for someone to coordinate the music library’s digitizing project, Sarah jumped at the opportunity.
Sarah’s extensive knowledge of music and her library technical background made her a perfect fit for the project. “This project involves a lot of technical knowledge, but there’s also the artistic side,” explains Mona.
To digitize the CDs, Sarah uses a computer connected to a robotic machine called a rip station, which she and the WXXI Classical team have affectionately named “Jack the Ripper.” While it takes just a little over one minute to digitize a CD, it’s the logging of data that takes time and expertise. “I go in and log all the different timings and make sure the digital file matches the physical CD,” explains Sarah. “It's a lot of just knowing music, looking at the CD covers and at the timings, and familiarizing myself with the content on each of the CDs.”
By digitizing the CD collection, WXXI Classical hosts are able to more easily program their shows with a diverse repertoire of music, both old and new. “As a WXXI Classical listener, I was always so inspired by the diversity of its programming and its ability to inspire all ages,” explains Sarah. “In fact, the other day my three-year-old son Remi kept asking over and over again for Mother Goose. My husband explained that the two of them were listening to WXXI Classical and host Steve Johnson had played the Mother Goose suite. Remi loves it now, and it has become part of our bedtime routine. I love that he is inspired by classical music – it is so multigenerational.”
Sarah prioritizes the CD she will digitize based on the programmatic themes of the month. For instance, in March during Women’s History Month, her focus was on works by female composers and conductors. “In terms of cataloging or getting things in, our priorities are diverse representation, exciting new recordings, and great classics that are newly recorded,” explains Mona. “I love having Leonard Bernstein or other conductors but is also great to have a new recording with Venezuelan’s Rafael Payare or Buffalo’s JoAnn Falletta.”
What does Mona hope the long-term impact of digitizing the library will have on the station and its listeners? “It would be that three-year-old Remi will be able to hear his Mother Goose Suites no matter what happens with our machines, technical challenges, or any of that,” said Mona. “We want to keep doing what we do, and grow what we do, because your experience as a listener, your embrace of the world, should not be limited by technical format changes or how they decide to release music.”