Obituary
‘His is the voice I hear,’ say fans of WFMT’s Pellegrini, 79
Norman Pellegrini, program director at Chicago’s classical WFMT-FM for 43 years, died July 2 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the city. He was two weeks shy of his 80th birthday. He had liver and pancreatic cancer, according to his longtime partner, Donald Knight, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“No one in WFMT’s 58-year history had more influence on WFMT’s sound, style and programming than Norm Pellegrini,” said General Manager Steve Robinson in a statement. “He shaped that sound every day.”
Pellegrini programmed the station from 1953 through 1996. He was known for his love of music, particularly opera. He co-hosted the station’s Lyric Opera of Chicago broadcasts from 1971 until March 2009, as well as hosted international broadcasts of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1976 until the mid-1990s.
He also hosted The Midnight Special (“Folk music with a sense of humor”), a show created in 1953 by Mike Nichols, who went on to a career in comedy and film direction.
Pellegrini was known for his high standards. In 1985 he wrote a protest letter to the Lyric when it scheduled “The Merry Widow” in its 1986-87 season. Pellegrini considered it an operetta and “not right for the image of the Lyric.”
“But Norman eventually accepted the fact that Lyric was performing it and that WFMT would broadcast it,” said Jack Zimmerman, subscriber relations manager with the Lyric.
Zimmerman, as a native Chicagoan and longtime WFMT listener, said Pellegrini “had much to do with the formation of my musical tastes”—as well as that of classical music enthusiasts throughout the city.
“For those of us who grew up here, he was the guy we listened to— and I often told him that,” Zimmerman said. “When I close my eyes and think of my youth, listening to classical music, his is the voice I hear.”
Jeanette Neagu, a civic activist and one of many listeners who left comments about the broadcaster on a WFMT web page, wrote: “I received an FM radio as a 8th-grade graduation gift from my parents. WFMT became my haven from the rock and roll world around me and Norm Pellegrini was the captain of that ship for most of my life. . . . His dignity, superb taste and passion for classical music helped me through many a difficult time.”
Lois Baum, retired WFMT assistant p.d. and Pellegrini’s co-host for the Lyric broadcasts, worked with him from 1964 until she retired in 2000.
Pellegrini had a special passion for new musical discoveries, Baum said. “In all the years we worked together, if he really liked something, he would just come right cross the hall and say, ‘Stop what you’re doing—you’ve got to hear this, it’s just wonderful.’ His enthusiasm was very infectious.”
The broadcaster was born July 18, 1929, in Chicago, son of the late Mamie and Paul Pellegrini, a restaurateur. Pellegrini attended the University of Chicago and received his degree from Columbia College. He also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from DePaul University in 1978.
Pellegrini’s first radio job was announcing for WOAK-FM, the station that became WFMT in 1951. His long tenure continued through two changes of ownership, including the Chicago Tribune’s 1970 donation of the station to public TV station WTTW, but it came to an abrupt end in 1996. Pellegrini was “relieved of his duties” by Dan Schmidt, then senior v.p. and now president of WTTW, according to a Tribune story. Schmidt told the paper that the demotion was based on “creative differences.”
Baum said after Pellegrini left the station he did consulting work and served on several boards, including the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Illinois Arts Council and the International Music Foundation, which provides free music performances and education.
He also completed the book 150 Years of Opera in Chicago following the death in 2002 death of its author, Chicago music critic Robert C. Marsh.
Pellegrini is survived by longtime partner Knight.
A memorial service took place July 18 — on what would have been his 80th birthday — at Mayfair Lutheran Church in Chicago. Knight said friends may make memorial donations to the International Music Foundation to assist its youth music programs. For more information, visit imfchicago.org.
Web page posted July 8, 2009
Copyright 2009 by Current LLC
