Jonathan Knight is a Knoxville native, and his interest in classical music was first sparked by hearing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in the movie Shine. He was then introduced to another Rachmaninoff piece, Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, and he was hooked.
“And so, once I heard that, it was like, ‘Oh, this is what it could be!’,” he recalled.
As his interest in classical compositions grew, Knight began listening to the concerts aired on WUOT 91.9 FM whenever he was driving around town. That was his first introduction to National Public Radio and its musical offerings—long before he would become a regular supporter of East Tennessee’s NPR station.
He began playing piano at 8 years old, but his love of classical music “clicked” in middle school. The composers he heard on WUOT and still loves today include his all-time favorite Arvo Pärt, as well as Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Henryk Górecki, and John Tavener.
Music was ever present in his home and social life, with family and friends always playing a variety of instruments. Knight would later attend school for film scoring, and he has almost always played in a band since high school, no matter where he lived.
After first falling for classical music, Knight expanded his interest to include jazz and began listening to the jazz show Improvisations on WUOT. Listening to the unique skills of musicians such as Art Blakey and Horace Silver made him wish he had their improvisational talent.
While the music is what caught his ear and attention as a youth when he tuned into WUOT, the news segments he heard on NPR while attending college became more important to Knight as his awareness of the world grew.
“We had political science classes, and that’s what I ended up studying, as well. I got really focused on what was going on in the world and why it was going on. How is our government set up? Hearing the news on NPR was a good way to keep up with that,” he said.
As is common with many WUOT listeners and supporters, Fresh Air has long been a regular news segment in Knight’s listening rotation. While he has his favorites, when pressed, he said he can’t even think of a show on the station that he would turn off.
“It’s so eclectic, [WUOT] airs Mountain Stage, I think on Saturday night, so it’s very different. You have the Met Opera. So, it’s all over. I don’t really think I have a least favorite,” he said.
Knight sees supporting WUOT as a way to make an impact on his community. He moved away to go to school and then worked at an advertising agency in New York. The job became remote, and he was able to move back home. Along with that move was a return to listening to the NPR station of his childhood. He soon realized supporting the station was a way to support Knoxville and East Tennessee and began donating as he could.
“I wanted to support a local station that was presenting the news a certain way—which I thought was objective, unbiased, as much as it can be. And I want to support that and keep that going as I much as I can, “ he said.
Knight said he is also concerned the news and other shows offered through WUOT are at risk of being devalued as people change the way they consume the news, despite the quality of reporting and the variety of music offered through WUOT and other NPR stations. He said anyone who values the world and local news offered through WUOT should consider becoming a supporter so the work can continue.
“I think with the NPR news section, whether it is local, whether it’s All Things Considered, The Morning Edition, they present the news in a way that shows they trust their listeners; they present the facts and then let us decide the conclusions we want to make, which I like. I’m just happy to support that,” he said.