IT IS one o’clock on a Thursday afternoon and David Kennedy is doing what he has done each week for 30 years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
He is putting his headphones on, checking that the CDs are loaded and starting his two-hour classical music radio show on community radio station Phoenix FM.
This month David is celebrating 30th anniversary.
He often chooses a theme for his shows, recently it was Halloween.
He talks with such enthusiasm about the creative process he goes through when selecting the themes and the music to go with each theme.
In fact, it’s an ongoing process where ideas pop into his head almost every day.
It consumes him, but it’s certainly no burden.
And although he’s been at it for 30 years, he has never run out of ideas.
David was a teacher of the classics - ancient history, Roman history and French history - and politics.
He then went into politics, serving in the state and federal parliaments.
“I loved the classics and of course they go hand in hand with my love for classical music,” he says.
But it’s classical music that really moves David.
“Classical music brings me infinite pleasure,” he says. “At 18 I picked up Swan Lake and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
“They were just bloody good tunes and it’s exciting music, beautiful melodies, beautifully orchestrated, and quite gripping, and then as you go on you realise how moving music can be.”
David speaks with such overwhelming passion – humming the tunes with power and contrast, and demonstrating the effect and strength of the pieces – he gets caught up almost in another world.
After his show each week, he needs quite some time to come back down to earth, such is the power that two hours of classical music has on him.
He believes music can have a powerful impact on people.
“There’s no question that music can excite you and direct you and give you the recognition of what is beautiful and what is eternal, what’s lasting in life,” he says.
“People can associate music with a particular stage with their life.”
David gets emotional when the topic turns to the most meaningful music in his vast collection.
“I mean, I have half a dozen to a dozen pieces of music that always bring back big memories, and ah, yeah, I mean, I don’t know how to talk about that without getting a bit weepy,” he says.
“Because you associate feelings with it, important things in life.
“People always have particular pieces of music that they associate with their family or or their partner or their mother or father and music of any kind brings it back and classical music can bring it back.”
And after 30 years presenting his show, David says he has no plans to retire.
“I expect it will see me out,” he says.
