Lois Reitzes was honored at an Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert on Thursday, May 29. (Photos by Rand Lines)
The longtime WABE radio host and arts advocate is retiring from daily broadcasting at the end of June.
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“Spirit of the Radio,” the 1980 prog rock classic by Rush, kicks off with “begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive.” For 45 years, for listeners of WABE 90.1 in Atlanta, that voice belongs to Lois Reitzes. The announcement of Reitzes’ departure from the station was a bittersweet moment for broadcasters and audiences alike.
For the last 10 years, Reitzes has been devoted to City Lights, her regular program covering the arts and culture in Atlanta. But preceding City Lights (and running alongside it) has been Reitzes’ hosting of WABE’s broadcasts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
At its Thursday, May 29, performance, the ASO awarded Reitzes its rarest and most coveted honor: a golden ticket good for premium seats at any of its performances.
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“I have on the stage with me someone who needs no introduction,” began ASO Executive Director Jennifer Barlament before being drowned out by enthusiastic applause. Her brief remarks were punctuated throughout by similar eruptions until Reitzes herself stepped forward.
That familiar, friendly voice — this time tinged with an undercurrent of stronger emotions — was heard throughout the house. “Speechless is not a good thing in radio,” she began to warm chuckles.
“My favorite philosopher is Mel Brooks,” she continued. “And when he won the Oscar in 1969 for The Producers, in his acceptance speech, he said ‘I just want to tell you what’s in my heart: ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump.’”
The remark was met with tremendous laughter, but Reitzes stepped gently into deeper waters. “What fills my heart at this moment is overwhelming gratitude for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. For 45-and-a-half years with WABE, the greatest privilege associated with my job has been the experiences I’ve had with the ASO.” She went on to speak about the thrill of interviewing the creatives of all varieties associated with the organization, crediting them with “expanding my appreciation of music in ways that just grow deeper with time” and closed with “My thanks to all of you for the beauty, the meaning and the joy you have provided me. I look forward to hearing you perform for many years to come. Thank you.”
It was a humble speech met with a standing ovation. And for all the gentle weariness in her voice, Reitzes was as upbeat as ever when we chatted the following day. She was still reeling from the previous evening’s tidal wave of emotions.
“When the orchestra stood up, it took my breath away,” she recalls. “I was so deeply touched, I didn’t know if I could move, and then David [Coucheron, concertmaster] bounded out and gave me a hug!”
That depth of connection with the entire ASO organization has been forged over decades of broadcasting, and, through it all, Reitzes has found that learning about the musicians, their craft and their perspectives has shaped her own life.
“What has been such an amazing experience for me throughout the years has been not only the opportunity to be up close and personal to the music but to have been immersed in so much of it through the musicians themselves,” she explains. “Not only the guest stars, which have been pretty glamorous and exciting, but the musicians of the orchestra have so much depth to what they bring to their playing.”
For Reitzes, finding out what various conductors bring to their craft and the orchestra as a whole has been uniquely fascinating. Reitzes has been a part of WABE during the careers of four ASO conductors (Robert Shaw, Yoel Levi, Robert Spano and now Nathalie Stutzmann) and found Spano’s vision of particular interest.
“Robert is one of the most profound intellects on this planet,” she declares. “And he’s one of the kindest people you could ever meet.” She’s been particularly interested in the director’s efforts to showcase new classical music. “To see audience members stand up and cheer for contemporary music … that just did not happen before Robert.”
She paints a similarly vivid and poetic picture of Robert Shaw: “Another amazing intellect. And a humanist. He would just go from one philosopher to another and then bring it all back to the voice and spirituality. Throw in a little humor, and there was Robert Shaw.”
Her involvement with the ASO wasn’t limited to the radio. Under director Levi, she performed on stage with the orchestra as narrator of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. “It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life,” she recalls fondly. Levi also brought her in to narrate Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle.
Additional appearances included lectures and interviews conducted at Symphony Hall. It becomes clear in talking with her how integral the space became to her life’s work in broadcasting, which makes Thursday’s ceremony feel all the more momentous.
Reitzes says she’ll be making good use of that golden ticket in retirement and points out that it will be easier to attend concerts now that she doesn’t have to rise in the wee hours of the morning. But no matter what adjustments she makes to her retired life, it’s clear that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will always be her home for the classics.
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Jordan Owen began writing about music professionally at the age of 16 in Oxford, Mississippi. A 2006 graduate of the Berklee College of Music, he is a professional guitarist, bandleader and composer. He is currently the lead guitarist for the jazz group Other Strangers, the power metal band Axis of Empires and the melodic death/thrash metal band Century Spawn.
