WDPR 88.1 FM — Voice of the Arts
Your Classical Public Radio Station in Dayton Ohio

January 3, 1938 - May 3, 2009

Charles Wendelken-Wilson, age 71, died peacefully Sunday morning at Hospice of Dayton following a long illness.  A celebration of his life and his music is planned for Tuesday, May 12 at 5:30 pm at the Schuster Center.  Entrance will be through the stage door on Ludlow Street.  Musicians from the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra will perform. 

A native of Hoboken, NJ and a graduate of the Mannes College of Music, Charles trained with the greats in his profession.  From his debut conducting Benjamin Britten’s Turn of the Screw at New York City Opera in 1962, through his years in Boston under BSO conductor Erich Leinsdorf, four summers at Tanglewood and back to City Opera as the resident conductor, he conducted over 300 performances of at least 36 different operas.  He conducted soprano Beverly Sills on numerous occasions, soprano Maria Callas at President Kennedy’s famous birthday party and even one of Jack Benny’s last performances.  In 1975, Charles settled in for twelve years as the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s second Music Director/Conductor, igniting a sense of excitement and growth among orchestra members and audiences.  In 1993, he became Dayton Public Radio’s first Music Director, shaping the sound and presentation of the music on a daily basis. 

Charles worked with the greats--but his real gift was in encouraging new talent.  While he preferred classical music, he appreciated of the talent in other genres.  Always comfortable in the opera pit, Charles was a singer’s conductor.  He oozed excitement in conducting tenor Scott Piper in Lucia di Lammermoor because he could see a great career in the making.  He worried over the soprano’s long term sound in I Pagliacci because he felt she was straining her voice.  He taught countless masters’ classes and traveled to Lucca, Italy in 2001 to teach a pre-professional summer class in conducting opera for College-Conservatory of Music. At Classical 88.1, he spent hours mentoring on-air volunteers so that they were comfortable with the music and the radio presentation. 

He was personally proud to have been asked to conduct the Dayton Opera’s performance of Aida for the opening of the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center because he had adopted Dayton as his home and he recognized the huge step forward the Arts Center represented. 

In the community, Charles lectured extensively for the DPO, the Dayton Opera and the University of Dayton.  He shared his talents with the Opera Funatics and the Miami Valley Symphony.  In the mid-1980s, UD awarded him an honorary degree for his contributions to the community.  In 2005, he received the Montgomery County Arts & Cultural District’s Lifetime Achievement Award. 

I realize how difficult it is to evaluate a conductor’s work.  The singers will sing, the musicians will play and many of us will not understand what separates the good from the excellent.  To watch Charles conduct was to watch a pro at work.  He was in sync with the musicians; he felt the music; his mission was to bring out the best. 

Radio broadcasting is a different form of conducting.  When I joined the radio station, I was terrified by the depth and breadth of his experience and knowledge.  I found a very committed man willing to go to any length to share his passion with the audience.  He spent hours on a daily basis considering how to put the music together for a radio audience.  He looked for nuances that linked pieces together and that reached out to the new listener.   He investigated counter programming, thematic programming, juxta-positioning of pieces, anything that might entice the listener to stay with the music he loved.  He understood that you teach best by teaching not at all.  So, he “shared” with new friends.  He bristled at charges that classical music is elitist and went to extremes to keep the humanity of the music in front of the audience. 

Charles felt strongly that quality performances should not be out of reach for the average citizen.  For the eight years, Charles and his friend Mike Jaffe co-hosted The Treasure Trove, a light-hearted look at great performances at budget prices.  Together they searched high and low to shine a beacon on terrific CDs that are available locally.

The radio station has recently made a number of significant technical improvements and Charles’ ear was quick to hear the difference.  On the second or third day of the new sound, Charles walked in my office, choked up, with tears in his eyes and said, “I drove to work listening to the final movement of the Brahms 4th and I could hear air coming through the trombone.  There was space around the sound.  It was magnificent!”  I don’t have that auditory acuity but I am grateful that he chose to share this gift with the radio audience. 

He will be missed.

Georgie Woessner
General Manager

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Dayton Public Radio, the Dayton Opera, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Humane Society of Greater Dayton or Hospice of Dayton.