Classical 89
Overview
Our mission is to create purposeful, engaging listening experiences that entertain, inspire, uplift, and improve families and communities.
How to Listen
Over the Air
Listen to Classical 89 at the following frequencies:
89.1 FM — Most of the Wasatch Front
89.5 FM — Spanish Fork (Southern Utah County)
106.9 FM — Levan, UT
96.1 FM — Milford, UT
100.3 FM — Cedar City, UT
100.7 FM — Ivins, UT
102.3 FM — Preston, ID
On our website at classical89.org
On your smart speaker. Just ask it to play Classical 89 or KBYU-FM
On our free mobile app, available wherever you get your apps
Programming
Classical 89’s program selections come from an extensive classical-music library, Classical 89 productions, concerts and performances by Utah Symphony, BYU School of Music, and the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and Foundation. Other local performances are also regularly featured, as well as nationally and internationally syndicated concerts.
We also present BYU devotional and forum addresses, and sessions in the semi-annual general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Early Years
Classical 89 began broadcasts in 1946 as KBYU-AM 660 on the BYU campus to the Knight and Allen Halls and was run by and programmed for students. Shows included Campus Talent, Campus Variety Show, Quiz Show, Music of the Masters and Campus News, alongside Popular Music Requests and KBYU Players Present.
BYU professor T. Earl Pardoe first proposed the idea of a campus radio station to student Owen S. Rich, who had previously worked as a studio engineer and was just returning from serving as a radio and radar technician for the Coast Guard in World War II. It was Rich’s idea to work with Provo so that the city’s power-line network would become the station’s antennae, and in 1948 KBYU became available citywide.
Switch to FM
In 1958, various BYU construction projects meant that the KBYU studios would lose access to Provo power lines and another means of broadcast needed to be found. At the same time, FM transmissions were emerging as the industry standard but required a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Owen Rich, now a member of the BYU faculty, filed the application on Aug. 17, 1959 and received approval in 1960. At the time the call letters “KBYU” were assigned to a liberty ship, so on May 9, 1960, BYU began FM broadcasts as KBRG. The FCC assigned the KBYU call letters to BYU’s FM station on May 19, 1960, and on Nov. 9, 1960, KBYU-FM aired its inaugural program. It was in 1979 that KBYU-FM became a full-time classical music station.
Support Our Radio Station
Help keep Classical 89 alive by making a charitable donation today!