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Meet the KMFA Music Hosts
Jeffrey Blair (Weekdays, 6 am – 10 am)
Jeffrey has always known that music was in his blood. He eagerly began developing his affinity for audio production from a tender young age spending countless hours creating 'radio shows' on an old cassette recorder. Jeffrey brings over 20 years of radio expertise to KMFA, and as Production Manager he has produced, recorded and engineered countless live and in-studio performances of local, regional, national and well known talents. In this way he can best deliver his passion for the many sounds of music.
Jeffrey's other interests include the artistry of baseball, organic gardening, exercising his culinary muscle and working on his 1971 VW bus affectionately known as Grateful Phred.
Dianne Donovan (Weekdays, 10 am – 2 pm)
Montreal born Dianne Donovan lives and breathes music, whether she is behind the microphone announcing or singing. One of Dianne's earliest memories is of marching around the living room to Ravel's Bolero. Having studied music with an emphasis on vocal jazz performance, she has been a radio announcer/programmer for twenty years - producing classical, jazz and eclectic programs.
When she's not "on the air" or producing Classical Austin for KMFA, you might catch Dianne singing with the Beat Divas or with the Austin Jazz Workshop. Her motto, "So little time, so much music."
Rich Upton (Weekdays, 2 pm – 6 pm)
After stints with three other Austin radio stations, KKMJ, KOKE and KFON, as well as serving as News Director at KLSN in Brownwood, Texas, afternoon host Rich Upton joined KMFA in 1989 at the invitation of then-program-director Scott Dawes. In addition to acting as KMFA's Operations Manager, Rich is also an accomplished guitarist, singer and writer of pop songs.
David Crews (Saturdays, 6 am – 11 am)
David Crews energized his life-long enthusiasm for classical music when he became Classical Music Director and announcer for his college radio station in Odessa, Texas, where he grew up. David also played percussion, including tympani, where he was once conducted by Frederick Fennell. Since that time, he has pursued a successful career in broadcast and cable television production. He is also a composer, recording artist, voice talent (including the Austin Symphony’s television and radio spots), author, and world traveler with a special interest in Amazonian shamanism. In his spare time, he owns his own video post-production and music company, CrewsCreative.
Judlyne Gibson (Saturdays, 12 noon – 6 pm)
Judlyne Gibson has worked in broadcast journalism for more than 20 years, first in her hometown of Houston, Texas, then on to San Antonio, Washington and New York. Under the name Judlyne Lilly, she won several broadcast news awards and earned a M.F.A. in Playwriting from the Catholic University of America. In addition to hosting Saturday Matinee, Judlyne also works for the Texas State (Radio) Networks and for KERA in Dallas.
Jules Brandon (Sundays, 12 pm – 4 pm)
Jules Brandon is a successful voiceover artist, active in projects ranging from radio and TV commercials to industrial narrations. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College and spent several years working as a consultant, coach and public speaker. She began her relationship with classical music at the age of four when her parents gave in to piano lessons after they could no longer endure her relentless banging on the keys. But, after 10 years of study, she had to face the reality that her love for the piano far outweighed her talent. Consequently, she appreciates the masterful performances of the musicians here on KMFA that much more.
Carmel O’Donovan
A relatively recent émigré from London, Carmel’s roots are Irish through and through. Gifted with the “Blarney,” she has always sought to engage people and consequently, although trained as a doctor, she spent much of her career in the UK lecturing and training healthcare professionals about risk management in medical practice. While her radio experience has previously been as an avid listener rather than a presenter, Carmel’s longstanding love of both radio and classical music meant that discovering KMFA gave her an immediate “home from home” when she moved to Austin three years ago with her husband and four children.
John Zech (Weekdays, 5 am – 6 am)
Composers Datebook host John Zech has been a classical music announcer, producer, and program host for more than 20 years. He has also been a narrator and voice talent for a wide variety of industrial and educational tapes.
In addition to his work on Composers Datebook, John also hosted the radio series The Composer's Voice, a series profiling contemporary composers co-produced by Minnesota Public Radio and the American Composers Forum for Public Radio International.
John is currently heard weekends on the classical music stations of Minnesota Public Radio and Classical 24.
Scott Blankenship (Monday – Tuesday, 12 midnight – 5 am; Sunday, 12 midnight – 6 am)
Scott Blankenship started his radio career in college when he began working as a volunteer at a local cable radio station, announcing alternative and new rock music. His love and appreciation of classical music began at public radio station KVNO in Omaha, where he spent 13 years in various on-air and management roles, five of those years as the morning drive-time host.
Indications that radio was in his blood go back to age five, when he used a corkboard and a battered phonograph as a make-shift radio studio, his father's Air Force issue flashlight served as his "on air" light. In his spare time, Blankenship is an avid cyclist and amateur playwright with several produced scripts to his credit.
Ward Jacobson (Wednesday – Friday, 12 midnight – 5 am; Saturday, 12 midnight – 6 am)
Ward Jacobson has enjoyed a radio career spanning over two decades as a morning show host and sportscaster, as well as producer/host of an interview program where he chatted up both local and national authors, musicians, politicians and newsmakers. He is also a past winner of the prestigious Marconi Award. Jacobson's love of classical music stems from a childhood influenced by his bass-baritone father and piano-teaching mother. While still a college student in Nebraska, he began singing with the Abendmusik Chorus and took part in concert tours to venues as varied as England's Lincoln Cathedral, the Vatican, Salzburg Cathedral, Auschwitz and Moscow. When not singing, he works to develop his guitar-strumming repertoire.
