Host profile: Tim Snider
Name: Tim Snider
Show: Sunday Opera Matinee, Sundays 2 - 6 p.m.
Day job: I'm retired, but I lecture on opera at the Paramount Theater, and I teach courses on opera for OLLI (UVA’s Lifelong Learning Institute).
How long have you been a WTJU host? 24 years
Why should someone tune into your show in particular?
Even longtime fans of opera will hear repertory selections, singers, and recordings that they have never heard before.
Favorite moments in the air studio?
I had an elderly listener call who had heard Caruso sing live on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in about 1919.
If you could interview anyone on air, dead or alive, who would it be? Why?
I would be fascinated to hear Richard Wagner explain his opera Parsifal. What does it mean?
What are your guilty pleasures? (Music or otherwise)
I love the music of Franz Liszt. Sometimes not tasteful, but always tasty.
What are your passions outside of music?
Literature, history, and wine.
Why does WTJU matter?
Without WTJU broadcast music would be homogenized, stale, and pointless.
What could WTJU do better?
Our on-air presentation could be better. It's okay to be quirky or idiosyncratic, but sometimes we come across as less serious or well-prepared than I would like.
Would you rather be a famous singer or be able to bring your favorite deceased singer back to life?
Bring back Caruso!
Would you rather listen to a Bach motet scored for electric guitars, or Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ scored for chamber choir?
That's why toilets flush.