Dallas’ WRR-FM (101.1) has a new classical music director — and he wants it to sound fresh and new. Those words aren’t normally associated with the 102-year-old radio station, but they’re vital to Emilio Alvarez’s goal of deepening connections between WRR and area listeners.
“I just want to be a part of everyone’s regular, daily life,” he says. “I want WRR to be something that people turn on in their backyard barbecues. I want the music to be something that they discuss with their friends, and music that they have on in the house when they’re washing the dishes or in the driveway washing their car.”
As part of this mission, Alvarez, who started the job July 17, will work to make WRR’s music library more reflective of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The station is also focusing on building relationships with community groups.
“We’re trying to figure out more ways that we can represent those groups and the work that they’re doing through our broadcasts,” Alvarez says. “Not just in promotional ways, but in specific programming.
“We kind of need to be the thread that connects all these other different community organizations that have been doing great work for a long time.”
Alvarez’s appointment comes during a transition period at WRR. In January, KERA, North Texas’ public radio and TV operator, took over management of the city-owned station, which switched from a commercial to noncommercial format. Nonclassical paid programs have gone away and ads have been replaced by sponsor messages.
In addition to his director role, Alvarez is hosting a weekday show called The Homestretch. He wants it to be a “two-way conversation” with listeners and to hear from them by phone and email.
Born in Cleveland but mainly raised in San Antonio, Alvarez started playing cello in elementary school. For a long time, he wanted to be a concert cellist.
“At some point in college, I realized I just was not as good as the other players around me. And maybe my heart wasn’t there.”
He graduated with a degree in composition from Trinity University in San Antonio. His compositions explored jazz and Latin music, which he also plays on cello. His varied interests have informed his radio programming.
“Some of the fences we put around this music are pretty arbitrary,” he says. “I think we can be a little bit more open-minded with what we deem is worthwhile to listen to.”
Alvarez interned at Trinity’s jazz station in college and later worked there full time. His most recent job was at a classical station in Austin.
On the side, he’s flown aerial cameras at NFL and college football games and Paul McCartney concerts. He once even filmed what he described as a cult meeting in the Plano area. As he says with a laugh, “Contracting in the media world can take you a lot of strange places.”
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