When I was younger (okay, a lot younger!), there were four full-time and five part-time classical music stations in the Baltimore area. But most of those FM stations are long gone as musical tastes and radio formats have expanded. Today, there are two, and only WBJC-FM plays classical music 24/7 curated by a staff that has well-more than 100 years of combined experience.
WBJC-FM can be heard in 6 states and the District of Columbia. The license is held by Baltimore City Community College (BCCC), and broadcasting began in 1951. But in the last 40 years, WBJC-FM's status has varied depending upon leadership at BCCC, with occasional talk of changing the format.
Additionally, even though WBJC raises all of its own revenue, it has become increasingly difficult to spend it. The station must follow the arcane, and sometimes archaic, purchasing rules of the State of Maryland and BCCC. These inefficient processes do not allow for emergency purchases to keep WBJC on the air and create costly delays and much added work.
So last year, I did something that I have wanted to do for many years: I started the Friends of WBJC, Inc.
-- Ted Manekin
The Friends of WBJC, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Maryland in July, 2020 as a charitable 501(c)(3) organization. As a new group, we are in the process of developing our organization by expanding our small, initial Board of Directors and increasing our number of Friends.
The mission of the Friends of WBJC, Inc. is to assure the future vitality and excellence of classical music broadcasting in Maryland and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region by promoting and increasing access to classical music through the broadcasting of WBJC-FM, live performances, and educational activities related to classical music in the larger community.
To achieve this mission, the Friends of WBJC, Inc. has several main objectives.
Preserve Classical Music Broadcasting by:
Support Classical Music Broadcasting in Maryland and Surrounding Areas by:
Theodore Manekin
During a forty-year career in not-for-profit management and fundraising, Ted Manekin served as Assistant General Manager of WBJC, Director of Membership of WNYC-AM & FM (New York Public Radio), National Executive Director of the Veterans Bedside Network, Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry, and Assistant Director of State Network Fundraising at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. He has also been a consultant to numerous museums and theatre companies. An accomplished sound designer, he has worked on many theatre and radio projects. After retiring, Ted was asked to return to WBJC and is now the Director of Special Projects.
Charles A. Borek, JD, MBA, CPA
Chuck Borek is a business and tax attorney and a Certified Public Accountant with almost 30 years of experience dealing with nonprofit organizations. Chuck earned his joint JD/MBA summa cum laude from the University of Baltimore, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and the recipient of the 1993 Law Faculty Award. He has represented many nonprofit organizations as an attorney and has been a member of the board of directors of several organizations, including the Alzheimer’s Association of Central Maryland, where he previously served as president and treasurer. He has also taught as a visiting professor and adjunct professor of law at American University and the University of Baltimore and has lectured at Dickinson law school of Penn State University. Chuck has written for Thomson-Reuters, Bloomberg BNA, and the AICPA. His book on contract drafting is used by lawyers throughout Maryland and has been cited by the Maryland courts. He has recently completed graduate work in theology and literature at Wesley Theological Seminary.
Stephen R. Elville, J.D., LL.M.
Stephen R. Elville is the Principal Attorney and CEO of Elville and Associates, P.C., a leading estate planning, elder law, and special needs planning law firm with offices throughout Central Maryland. Mr. Elville attended law school and graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2001. He was selected to Super Lawyers for 2015, 2017 - 2020. Super Lawyers is an exclusive list of top-rated attorneys in specific practice areas who were chosen after thorough evaluation of numerous criteria. Mr. Elville is also the founder of the Elville Center for the Creative Arts, and is the president of Elville Studios, LLC, and Elville Self-Direct, Inc., his legal education company. He is the past Chair of the Howard County Bar Association Estates and Trusts Section, and is also the past Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association Elder and Disability Rights Section Council. Mr. Elville currently continues to serve on that Section Council.
Jed Gaylin
Jed Gaylin serves as Music Director of the Bay Atlantic Symphony (NJ), Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, and Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra (WV). In addition, he is Principal Conductor of the Cape May Music Festival. Previous posts have included Principal Guest Conductor of the National Film and Radio Philharmonic (Beijing), Director of Orchestras of the Cervera International Music Festival (Spain), and Principal Guest Conductor of the Sibiu State Philharmonic (Romania). In 2018, Mr. Gaylin was tapped by Eastman School of Music composer Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez to conduct his Alla Balena Ensemble for performances in the US and Mexico. He has guested with such prestigious orchestras as the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra (Russia), Bucharest Radio Orchestra, Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra, Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), Eastman School of Music Broadband Ensemble, among many others.
Edward Polochick
For 31 years, Edward Polochick served as Artistic Director of Concert Artists of Baltimore, an all-professional chamber orchestra and vocal ensemble of eighty musicians which he founded in 1987. As Music Director of Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra since 1998, he has expanded LSO’s music series through innovative classical music programs. Maestro Polochick has served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore since 1979 in a multitude of conducting positions including Associate Conductor of Orchestras, Director of Choral Ensembles, and Opera Conductor. Not only is he widely recognized as a conductor, but is an award-winning pianist and harpsichordist and regularly conducts from the keyboard with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra.
Click the button below to give us your name and email address. You will receive periodic updates and news of our efforts. The more people we can count as Friends, the more successful our efforts will be. Please share this website on social media and email the link to everyone you know who values classical music and WBJC-FM.
The Friends of WBJC, Inc., and WBJC-FM and its licensee, Baltimore City Community College, are separate, independent organizations.
