WNYC Saves New Sounds with $1.5 Million Listener Campaign
John Schaefer’s legendary music program will continue thanks to the generous support of major donors and devoted listeners
“John’s show is one of the only avenues and formats in the world really able to defy genre and put all music on the same level.” – Bryce Dessner, The National
(New York, NY – April 18, 2025) – WNYC today announced that its “Save New Sounds” campaign to preserve the beloved 40+ year music program has reached its goal of $1.5 million, and the show will go on. The news was first announced by host John Schaefer on-air on New Sounds.
The “Save New Sounds” campaign was fulfilled through a number of large gifts from several major donors—including an anonymous donor who stepped forward with a transformative seven-figure gift—along with a grassroots listener campaign that welcomed donations of all sizes. In all, over 1,000 listeners from 31 states and 17 countries donated in amounts ranging from $1 to over $1 million.
“New Sounds has been as much a journey of surprise and discovery for me as it has been for our listeners. The prospect of stopping, even after 43 years, well, it just seemed too soon. And to my incredible relief, enough people agreed and were eager to help, and so, that journey will continue,” said John Schaefer. “I’m feeling a weird mix of gratitude, tinged with surprise, and an oxymoronic blend of pride and humility, at what the show has meant to so many listeners who’ve been along for the ride. But that’s one of the great things about music—when you’re feeling all the feels and can’t really express it in words, music can take over. And thanks to our New Sounds community, that’s exactly what will be happening tonight, and for years to come.”
“It is a testament to the singular legacy of New Sounds and the passion of John’s global fan base that this campaign was so successful,” said LaFontaine E. Oliver, President and CEO, New York Public Radio. “We are tremendously grateful to the many listeners who stepped up, and to John and Caryn for producing a show that celebrates so many different types of music and inspires such a strong sense of devotion and community.”
WNYC’s New Sounds is a cherished radio program devoted to music discovery. Since 1982, host John Schaefer has invited listeners on a free-wheeling, genre-agnostic musical adventure every night of the week. Billboard called New Sounds “The #1 radio show for the Global Village,” and the New York Times declared the show “a genre-defying radio program that has played an outsize role in the city’s new music scene.” New Sounds was an early supporter of celebrated artists including Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, the Bang On A Can collective, Peter Gabriel, Enya, and now-departed figures like Ravi Shankar, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Zakir Hussain, and Toumani Diabate.
On any given show, listeners can hear a range of contemporary classical, jazz, folk, and music from around the world, from the likes of lap-tapping guitarist Yasmin Williams, South African cellist Abel Selacoe, kamancheh master Mehrnam Rastegari, Brazilian big band Bixiga70, legendary new music champions Kronos Quartet, Dublin-based Lankum, Sandbox Percussion, violinist Carla Kihlstedt, Pakistani-American vocalist Arooj Aftab, and Dutch band Nusantara Beat – a soundtrack that is curated with Schaefer’s long-time producer Caryn Havlik. The show now counts many musicians, artists, and other creatives as part of its listening community, along with music lovers in New York, across the country, and around the globe. The show is broadcast from 11pm-midnight EST on 93.9 FM and AM 820 in New York and at WNYC.org.
Schaefer joined WNYC in 1981, where he was hired to read newscasts and introduce classical music, but soon found himself hosting a new music show that quickly became the on-air hub of the fertile downtown music scene. Schaefer has been cited by New York Magazine as one of “the people whose ideas, power, and sheer will are changing New York” and He was honored in 2003 with the American Music Center’s prestigious Letter of Distinction for his “substantial contributions to advancing the field of contemporary American music in the United States and abroad.”
ABOUT WNYC
With an urban vibrancy and a global perspective, WNYC is New York’s public radio station, broadcasting and streaming award-winning journalism, groundbreaking audio programming and essential talk radio to the city and beyond. WNYC offers its listeners a unique range of local, national, and international programming, including programming from NPR, American Public Media, and the BBC World Service, along with a roster of WNYC-produced local programs that champion the stories and spirit of New York City and the surrounding region, including The Brian Lehrer Show and All of It. From its state-of-the-art studios, WNYC is reshaping audio for a new generation of listeners, producing some of the most beloved nationally-syndicated public radio programs including Radiolab, On the Media, The New Yorker Radio Hour. NYC broadcasts on 93.9 FM and AM 820 to listeners in New York and the tri-state area, and is available to audiences everywhere at WNYC.org, the WNYC app and through major digital radio services, all made possible through the generous support of our members, donors and sponsors.
ABOUT JOHN SCHAEFER
John Schaefer is the host and producer of New Sounds and its innovative Soundcheck podcast, which has featured live performances and interviews with a variety of guests since 2002. He is also the co-host of the nationally-syndicated series Carnegie Hall Live, produced by WQXR, and hosts the Ojai Talks, a series of live interviews with artists at the annual Ojai Festival in California. He created the New Sounds Live concert series in 1986, which features new works, commissioned pieces, and a special series devoted to live music for silent films. Schaefer has written extensively about music, including the book New Sounds: A Listener’s Guide to New Music (Harper & Row, NY, 1987; Virgin Books, London, 1990); the Cambridge Companion to Singing: World Music (Cambridge University Press, U.K., 2000); the TV program Bravo Profile: Bobby McFerrin (Bravo Television, 2003); and the documentary film The Art Of Ostad Elahi (sold out debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019). He is a frequent juror for the Pulitzer Prize in Music and teaches the Media Workshop each year at the Bang On A Can Summer Festival at Mass MoCA.
ABOUT CARYN HAVLIK
Caryn Havlik is a drummer, recovering pianist, and long-time radio producer and part-time video producer at WNYC, on the show New Sounds with John Schaefer. Also called “The New Sounds All-Purpose Assistant” (NSAPA, for short), she enjoys trying to get brass bands more airtime, is smitten with almost all kora music ever, and loves sending clearance form letters to artists, composers, publishers and labels for use on podcasts. She is the drummer of the metal-folk band Zelenaya and Mortals (Relapse Records), has recorded with The All Things, and she is a Dream Cymbals Artist. Caryn teaches drums, keyboard, and audio production to folks aged 5 to 65 at the Willie Mae Rock Camp, Tom Tom Academy, and through private lessons. Her articles, interviews, and reviews on music, drumming, and not sucking at softball have been published in both Decibel and Tom Tom Magazine, the latter of which she served as the Metal issue’s co-editor (No. 13).
When not breathing music, Havlik plays softball (and co-manages the NYPR softball team), and is a kamikaze biker, gym rat, and an acupuncture junkie. Little known facts: she holds a B.A. in Japanese Language and Literature and learns Spanish on her phone in her spare time; she grew up as a classical pianist and had a pretty sweet gig as second-string organist at her church as a teenager; she very much enjoys Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and The Great British Baking Show.