A classical act: New Mexico's KHFM has been serving up the joys of great music for 70 years

Just after 10 a.m. on a Monday, Brent Stevens, program director for classical music station 95.5 KHFM-FM, is looking thoughtful as he sits with a cup of coffee in a meeting room of the America General Media building at Marble Avenue and Tennessee Street NE.

KHFM is one of six radio stations housed in the AMG complex. In a studio upstairs, Tanya Cole, the classical station’s weekday morning host, has just completed her shift, and Kathlene Ritch, who does the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. program Monday through Friday, is broadcasting from her home studio in Santa Fe.

A classical act: New Mexico's KHFM has been serving up the joys of great music for 70 years

Stevens, 67, KHFM’s senior staff member, is contemplating KHFM’s history and his own years with the station. KHFM marks its 70th anniversary this year, and Stevens has worked there for 20 years.

“One of the things I am most proud of is that we promote local musicians, bring them to a larger audience,” he said. “Our mission is to play great music, support local arts organizations and support art education.

“We are the station of the people who attend classical music programs and opera, go to theater, go to galleries and museums.”

Younger listeners “Uhhhh ... What do I do now, Olive?”

Those were the first words spoken on KHFM when the station started broadcasting in November 1954.

Henrietta Loy uttered that immortal phrase to her friend Olive Perkins. The women, volunteers at the station, were wives of Highland High School teachers who started the station.

KHFM was the first commercial FM station in Albuquerque and is one of the longest continually operating classical music stations in the country.

It’s been through a number of owners and locations since that first broadcast from a studio at 905 Buena Vista Drive SE in 1954, and in 2017 it shifted from commercial status to become a public, listener-supported station. It is funded by individual donations, corporate sponsorships, foundations and grants.

Besides playing the music of Bach, Beethoven, Bizet, Mozart and Mendelssohn, Stevens says that today, KHFM is giving its audience the music of contemporary composers and men and women of color, such as Florence Price (1887-1953), the first African American woman to be recognized as a composer of symphonies and have one of her compositions performed by a major orchestra.

He believes KHFM may be the only classical station offering a regularly broadcast program of music composed and performed by Indigenous people. “American Classical Voices,” hosted by Navajo pianist and musicologist Renata Yazzie, can be heard on KHFM at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month.

KHFM Executive Director Alexis Corbin said June ratings put the station in ninth place in its market, averaging 40,000-plus listeners each week.

“Additionally, the age range of our listeners is more broad than you might think,” said Corbin, who has been with KHFM since 2019. “While it’s true that about half our audience is age 65-plus, 26% are 18 to 45 years old.”

Stevens has a theory about the latter.

“Mothers and fathers driving their kids to school play KHFM in their cars because they don’t have to worry about news reports of crime, or dirty words,” he said. “KHFM provides a calm environment for kids, and some of them keep listening.”

Bringing joy

In addition to Cole and Ritch, KHFM’s on-air personalities are Corbin, 3 to 7 p.m. weekdays; David Sinkus, 7 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday; and Amy O’Brien, 1 to 7 p.m. Saturdays. Besides her weekday shift, Ritch hosts “The Sacred Hours” from 7 to 10 a.m. Sundays and a monthly choral hour.

These days, Stevens in on air 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday and 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Albuquerque native Stevens’ life has been infused with music. Several summers of his younger years were devoted to working on stage and backstage with the Albuquerque Civic Light Opera Association.

“My first role was John in ‘Peter Pan’ the summer before I went into seventh grade,” he said. “I played a kid in ‘Camelot,’ was in the chorus of ‘Oliver’ and one of the dancers in ‘Gypsy.’ ”

He majored in theater and minored in music at the University of New Mexico and was general manager of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra for 10 years. He is also a gifted theatrical sound designer and recording engineer.

Now, as he contemplates retirement in the not-too-distant future, he counts his years at KHFM as his most satisfying.

“The thing about this station is that it brings joy to people’s lives,” he said. “People get through bad times because of KHFM. We hear from people who tell us the station helped them get through cancer treatments, COVID and periods of grieving. We hear from people who say the station helped them celebrate the good things, births.

“If I get to do nothing else in my life, this is enough. This is what I was put here to do.”