Fred Child - Life

Life

Child was born in Huntsville, Alabama on March 30, 1963, and moved to Portland, Oregon at age seven. As a child in Portland, he studied classical piano. He attended Oregon State University, where he was first exposed to radio work while hosting a jazz program on the student-run campus radio station.

Subsequently, Child was host, announcer, producer, and programmer for Oregon Public Broadcasting for ten years, including five years (1990–94) on his two 2-hour weekend program of World Music called Music Confluence. Child then moved to New York City and worked at WNYC, where he became music director, director of cultural programming, and also host of the program Around New York. He worked at WNYC until 2000, when he was chosen to replace Martin Goldsmith as host of Performance Today, when Goldsmith stepped down to pursue writing.

In addition to Performance Today, Fred Child is the host of NPR's Creators @ Carnegie; a contributor to NPR's All Things Considered; and a host for live broadcasts of important concert events from New York City, Los Angeles, and London. He also appears on-stage doing pre-concert talks for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, New York's Lincoln Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Washington Performing Arts Society.

Child is also a keen musician, playing the piano, guitar, marimba, and bagpipes. His group, Balafon Marimba Ensemble, once opened for the Grateful Dead at Oakland Coliseum.