John Clare (Photo: Tasha Pinelo Photography)
Listeners tuning in to WFMT on the morning of January 27 will hear a new voice: John “Nasuk” Clare, the station’s new Morning Music Host.
John — a winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award — joins WFMT from SiriusXM, where he has hosted classical music programming since 2018.
John was born in Alaska of Inuit heritage. He’s been a violinist since his childhood, inspiration having struck after seeing a violin luminary perform live. He studied violin performance and composition at Wichita State University in Kansas, where he embarked on his radio career. Subsequent radio stops have included stations in Nevada, Texas, Ohio, Missouri, and Indiana.
Ahead of his debut as WFMT’s Morning Music host, WFMT spoke with John Clare to welcome him to Chicago airwaves and introduce him to listeners.
WFMT: What is your background in classical music, and how did you become a classical radio announcer?
John “Nasuk” Clare: I was adopted by a wonderful military family while they were in Alaska. We wound up in Kansas of all places, where my adopted father worked at Boeing.
I must have been eight or nine years old when I saw Itzhak Perlman play violin. I thought, “that would be awesome.” He was my inspiration to get into music. I started playing violin and always thought I would do that.
Then, one summer, I was helping my folks build their own house and listening to the public radio station. This music came on, and it stopped me in my tracks. I waited until the end, and it turned out to be Copland’s Third Symphony. I went to the library, and I checked out the score and the record. That taught me the power of radio.
I ended up going to Wichita State and studying composition and violin. There was a great radio station there: KMUW. I had friends who were doing jazz shifts as DJs. One of them asked me to come and fundraise. That was the first time I was on public radio.
One summer I didn’t go off to camp, and I was around the school of music. There was a sign on the bulletin board for student help in the music library. I started as a part-time student working in the music library, and that fall, there was an opening for an air shift. A couple of semesters later, I ended up going full time at the station as an announcer and producer.
WFMT: In radio and otherwise, what type of music do you enjoy the most?
Clare: For radio, I’ve always done classical music. I started a chamber music society when I was out in Las Vegas. Penn and Teller were key in helping fund and helping us get started; they remain friends.
But I love all sorts of music, and I think the beauty of it is that it’s all related. I listen to everything. I grew up in the ‘80s, so I had Thriller, I had The Bangles. I love all sorts of music.
When I was in Harrisburg, the development person was a folk singer and songwriter, so I made my first forays into playing jazz and folk music and a bit of rock.
WFMT: How do you think of your role as an announcer? What are you looking forward to sharing with WFMT’s audience?
Clare: It’s something I think about a ton, and I love talking to other announcers about it.
Again, to look to good old Aaron Copland, he has a piece called Fanfare for the Common Man. I sort of look at myself as the announcer for the common man. We all can feel catharsis, we can all feel inspired, we can all be moved by music. We just may not realize that.
Think about film scores. I love Star Wars, and when I hear “Yoda’s Theme,” I start feeling like I can use the Force.
I want to bring about Pachelbel — it was my dad’s favorite piece, the Canon in D — so I always had to play that on the violin for him. But there’s someone out there that doesn’t know that piece. And then there are people that are like, “Ugh, I can’t believe he’s playing Pachelbel’s Canon and Beethoven 5.” So, I look for something different when presenting those pieces.
Right now, the new Beethoven-inspired Jon Batiste album is awesome. I have a friend who’s a cellist, Juliana Soltis. She has a release called American Woman; it’s all these unknown works that are just beautiful.
I want to have my music by my friend Jerod Tate. I want to bring Jessie Montgomery to people who don’t know her music.
Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha Tate (Photo: Shevaun Williams)
There are all sorts of gems that I can’t wait to share. And I’m excited to dig into the WFMT library and see what’s around.
WFMT: What are you looking forward to about being in Chicago?
Clare: Being in such a cold place, it’s a good excuse to have the radio on, to warm up with classical music.
I’m looking forward to the food, the music, the art. I can’t wait to get to all the bakeries, all the pizza places, and go see the Sox, go see the Cubs. I’ve been a hockey fan for a long time, so to see the Blackhawks live in their house will be cool.
I was in high school when I first visited Chicago. It was a school orchestra trip where we didn’t play, but we went up and saw concerts and went to museums. It was pivotal for me. The Philadelphia Orchestra was on tour, so we saw them Saturday night, and then Sunday afternoon, the CSO played. To see two iconic orchestras was special.
I can’t wait to be in the same town as Augusta Read Thomas. I’m excited that Chicago is a Polish town. I am a big fan of Krzysztof Penderecki and Andrzej Panufnik. There are so many wonderful pieces by Panufnik, and his daughter is a wonderful composer and friend.
It’s such a joy. I can’t believe they hired me to get to talk about and curate classical music. That’s a dream job.
Hear John Clare from 6:00 am to 10:00 am every weekday morning on WFMT, starting Monday, January 27.
