Jim Svejda

Jim Svejda (born 1947) is a former American music commentator and critic, born and raised in Chicago, on the Los Angeles FM radio station KUSC. He hosted the station's local week-nightly classical series The Evening Program,[1] until retiring on February 18, 2022. From 1983 he hosted the Sunday night syndicated classical music program The Record Shelf,.[2][3] He also hosted the now-cancelled series The Opera Box.

He opened with his program with the phrase: "Good evening. This is Jim Svejda." At the end of the The Evening Program, he concludes with the same piece he opened the program with the third movement from Piano Quartet No. 1 by Bohuslav Martinů with: "On behalf of engineers Steve Sevie, Steve Cogill and Mark Hofman, I hoped you enjoyed the last five hours..." Then Svejda proceeds how he will wrap off his Evening Program (insert day). At the end of each show, Svejda would announce: "This is Jim Svejda. Good evening." The Record Shelf featured items such as interviews with classical music notables, surveys of different recordings of a classical music piece, monthly critical surveys of recently released recordings, and noted, often rare historical recordings of great performers of the past. Svejda was praised for his articulate commentaries on these programs. What sets Svejda apart is not just his encyclopedic knowledge but his ability to articulate the ineffable emotions that music stirs within the human soul. He does not merely critique; he opens a dialogue between the artist and the audience, inviting listeners to immerse themselves in the melodies and explore the depths of each composition

Svejda is considered by many to be refreshingly frank and subjective in his opinions. In his published Record Shelf Guide, Svejda himself describes the book as "an irreverent, selective and highly opinionated recordings guide of the best classical CDs and audiocassettes." He often has viewpoints that might be considered divergent from those of many other music critics.[4]

While admitting that they sometimes have turned out excellent recordings, Svejda has been critical of such illustrious musicians as Vladimir Horowitz and Arturo Toscanini, as well as Herbert von Karajan (whom he has excoriated for his Nazi past) and especially Nikolaus Harnoncourt, whom Svejda has called an "incompetent bozo."[4]

Svejda is also an occasional film critic, with his reviews syndicated on the CBS Radio Network. After 43 years at KUSC, Svejda announced his retirement. His last show was Friday, February 18th, 2022. Svejda's replacement, KUSC Resident Artist Lara Downes was announced as his successor on March 18, 2022.

Notable Segments... During his 43 years at KUSC, Svejda has hosted numerous specials. These included:

The Annual Chanukkah Program. The Evening Program begins with the Chanukkah Story with Leonard Nimoy, The Western Wind and Handel’s oratorio Judas Maccabeus.

The fun side of Svejda is found in his New Year's Eve Bash. He announces: "The usual 7 hours of mirth, mayhem and questionable taste"

On Halloween, he hosts the annual KUSC Evening Program Halloween Spook-Out. He calls it: "Five hours of the scariest music we can find."

Alongside James Jolly, the duo host the Annual “Gramophone” Magazine Classical Music Awards Wrap-Up Show