My local classical music station, WDAV out of Davidson College, is
celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.  To mark the special occasion,
it commissioned a piece by North Carolina native, Russell Peck.  The piece
had its premiere this past week-end performed by the Charlotte Symphony
Orchestra -- entitled "Voice of the Wood" a concerto for cello quartet.
It was broadcast live.  NPR will also broadcast it on Performance Today
which is great exposure for the composer and the orchestra -- but not
necessarily the radio station who sponsored it.  It received great reviews
so I imagine WDAV will broadcast it again in the near future.

I think the idea of commissioning a piece is a great idea, but, I wonder
what it costs to commission a piece like that and whether that is money
wisely spent, especially by a non-profit donor driven radio station.  Any
comments?

Mark Seeley