KDFC 90.3 FM

I listen to KCBS, KFOX, KFOG and KDFC.

Thanks to the election, I am sick of news radio. Thanks to corporate takeovers, KFOG has become insipid.

Thank God for KDFC. No, it's not perfect. But, the signal is stronger now on the peninsula, so my reception is great. The announcers are very informative and are teaching me about classical music. Although I was a musician, I am not that educated about classical music so I really appreciate the nuggets of background information the announcers provide on the composers, etc.

No commercials. I don't care if USC owns it. And that is not such a bad thing, unless you have hang ups about Southern Cal. Being from there, this rivalry thing is a joke. They aren't even aware of it. So get over it, folks.

Last night, trying to fall asleep amid the fireworks (waste of money but it
keeps the populace happy and not thinking about some of our BIG national problems), I turned on KDFC. Of course, it was Lara Downes time. She was playing (being patriotic, I guess) Randall Thompson's Testament of Freedom.
Is there anything less musically interesting than a men's chorus singing in unison for a longish time? (Hey, why not try a little Samuel Barber?)
I'd say Happy Fourth, but who can be happy with the orange guy and his
(paid?) justices waiting to take away our freedoms? Sorry to be political, but that's our reality.

Scrolling down the critiques here I am confused by some of what I am reading. I have lived in Boston - awesome radio ! Also have a degree in music - doesn't mean and extra feather in my hat or anything. This is overall, a pretty damn good station. I ,like everyone have my own petty pref's - e.g. More baroque ! That having been "said" I listen to this station all the time ( except jazz and news) and the selection is pretty good. I'll never understand the numerous pet-peeves people have w/ certain announcers - WHO CARES? I listen to this station for the music and it is more often than not, a perpetual " island of sanity". I have pretty good reception in the vehicle and at home the downstream is all one needs. My one and only gripe is directed outward to listeners. If you listen w/ any regularity - e.g 2-3 times a week, stick a crow bar in your wallet and contribute !!! If we don't pay , they can't play. Would that not be a great sadness? We keep this alive and going and that is the simple and great logic of any public broadcasting.

Great station for the most part. But, unfortunately, my partner and I can't listen between 8pm to midnight anymore. The host, Lara Downs, has a terrible voice for radio. We've tried to get used to it but gave up. Having beautiful music interspersed with that grating voice is like nails on a chalkboard. If she stays on, I hope they give her some vocal coaching. But who knows if she'd be open to that. Someone gave her a radio show so she probably thinks she has a rather golden voice.

Well, Diane, today you had all 8 cylinders going. Within 2 hours this afternoon, you played all the old "chestnuts": Beethoven's Fifth, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Dvorak New World Symphony, Debussy Clair de lune, The lark ascending, the Moldau, and so on. Don't you ever get tired of playing the same things all the time? I get tired of hearing them! Ever heard the expression: "Familiarity breeds contempt"?
And now I'm supposed to pay and be a member and support such mediocrity? (Or did someone break in and steal all the other recordings?) Or perhaps this is what the program director tells you to play?
Play something NEW! And I don't mean Einaudi, who just repeats his themes over and over, not very original, in my humble opinion.

Excellent....... Bay Area's only Classical Music Station ! An Island of Sanity in the Bay Area !

Annoying new announcers muck up KDFC landscape

Once upon a better season, we had a wonderful day slate of gifted hosts: Hoyt Smith, Diane Nicolini, Ray White and Rick Malone. Smith and White retired, although Smith remains a treasure whenever he fills in, and Malone was moved to musical director, really, in my view, to make way for the diction-challenged Laura Downes, hyped as some kind of a celebrity. Warm and cuddly, her mushy-mouthed ramblings amaze, so I avoid. Following her is more amateur night, with John Van Driel, the last man standing in the regular daily lineup, and the last voice I would want to hear when I wake up too early and turn the radio on. Van Driel's pompous, intermittently jerky articulations can be so inaudible, I am left to wonder how he got the gig. He replaced the superior Rick Capparela, demoted to two nights a week. And before Rick, there were quality others, such as the velvet voiced, class A mannered Blake Lawrence, about the best ever, whose absence I still rue. Nobody at KDFC will answer my question, why did he leave? I have a feeling that manager Bill Leuth is no longer in charge and would not have, on his own, hired the two new hacks. The station is owned by USC, which reminds us of the fact once every hour on the hour, and, I suspect, is ordered around by control freaks on the take. It was shameful how KDFC underplayed MTT's approaching retirement last year, at the same time playing up their "at home" interviews with various favored icons, Michael not being one of the chosen. To hear Diane and Hoyt is to recall a golden age of classic music announcers.

This station is good. I used to listen to a lot of alternative rock radio, but alternative rock is not good anymore, so I find myself switching the station to classical music. I mean, maybe I am getting older myself, and I do spend much time at SF Symphony going to shows..so I do prefer to have this on in the car. Some of the music can stand out and be really pleasant to listen to. Some of it is boring and doesn't stand out. If they play top classics all the time, I'd be happy. I hope people support this station because everybody needs a classical music station.

KDFC is a beacon of civilization. You feel civilized, even after a 6.0 quake hit Napa in 2014. An elegant baroque horn concerto played as I beheld the mess&the cracked walls. It was reassuring to hear it play on my clock radio.... despite the power outage.

I used to get lousy reception of KDFC when it was based in San Francisco. Now that they have a transmitter atop Mt. St. Helena, the reception is much clearer.... even when the earth literally moves northward (yes, classical 91.1 FM out of Eugene's University of Oregon is excellent)

During the recent conventions, their "Island of Sanity" fits its name. There's Mozart in the Morning. Sunday mornings are especially great with Baroque by the Bay and The Sacred Concert. Whether there's shifting earth or political drama, KDFC provides a haven. A sonic oasis with the classics like Bach, Mozart, Palestrina, and Gabrieli.

I enjoyed this radio. For weeks, they say "donate your car" and "donate money". They say donating is easy and I decided to donate my car. The website says you do not need anything. They will come and pick it up. When I filled out their form, they contact me saying they need this and this. I went back and find those and provided, then they started to say they do not need them and they need this and this. The staff started to explain and explain but did not give me any instruction. I found their office staffs were untrained. Their web site is very confusing. Their donation staffs are confusing. They explain that I cannot do this and this. I am not spending my time for something I cannot do, I am spending time for something I can do! I am donating and I felt very uncomfortable. I got an impression of "give me money and you go away." I am not expecting them super pleasant but this whole experience is not acceptable.

I found KDFC asks a different company to deal with a donation, called CARS (careasy.org). They have poor customer service with BBB complaints. I find complaints that they received DMV violations.I also find many other non-profit to choose from at car donation sites. I decided not to donate my car that had been very important to us.

After I cancelled, they still asked me to arrange the donations. I repeatedly told each place to cancel the donation. KDFC, CARS and their auction company, Capital City Auction, do not communicate well.