Popular and Critical Reception
McGlaughlin's highly informed, yet relatable and enthusiastic presentation has appealed to radio audiences of all ages, including younger listeners. According to Chicago Tribune music critic John von Rhein, "Bill McGlaughlin's folksy but informed manner as host of the popular radio series Exploring Music has pulled thousands of listeners into the classical experience." Executive Producer Steve Robinson reported in 2007:
- The e-mail is always over the top. In my 40 years doing classical music radio I've never seen anything like it.... The letters range from a person who had never heard a string quartet before and wanted to know where to buy one, to a listener who graduated from Juilliard and found comments on Ravel to be enlightening!
As of 2008, Exploring Music has over 500,000 listeners. Host and music director Bill McGlaughlin received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 from Fine Arts Radio International, which stated that, "Exploring Music, with its weekly thematic concept, provides the classical radio listener with both in-depth education and compelling radio listening, a balance that is rarely achieved." The show also garnered Bill McGlaughlin and producer Steve Robinson the Dushkin Award from the Music Institute of Chicago, in 2008. In 2011, in presenting McGlaughlin their Lifetime Achievement Award, the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio noted that "Bill McGlaughlin’s incredibly knowledgeable but always inviting and warm presence can ... be heard on Exploring Music, a daily program begun in 2002 in which he guides listeners to discover the heart, soul and humor of the music he plays."
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