If you listen to WHRO FM, you are very familiar with these two voices.Dr. Raymond Jones and Dwight Davis have been mainstays of classical music in Eastern Virginia for many years. In addition to a love of classical music, both announcers have also worked as educators. We wondered what other similarities they may share, so we took a moment to ask them some questions about their journeys in public radio through the years.

How did you get into radio?

Raymond: I got into radio back in 1961. My high school, Oscar Smith in Chesapeake, had a fully licensed station, WFOS-FM. I went on the air
when I was 13.

Dwight: It was just good luck, basically. I was teaching high school science and saw that WGH-FM was looking for an announcer. I was already a listener of classical music on WGH-FM and WTGM and I thought it would be exciting to be a radio announcer. I was hired off the street with no experience, but Vianne Webb must have detected some potential, albeit very obscured; I loved the music and I think that was the clincher.

What part of the job excites you the most?

Raymond: The part that excites me the most is new recordings of classical music − new interpretations and, occasionally, new music as well.

Dwight: The novelty has not worn off after all these years. There is so much music that it is always fresh and it’s good to know that we’re making listeners’ lives a bit better by sharing the music with them.

How has the job changed since you started?

Raymond: When I started, we were playing LP's with an occasional 78 rpm disc, and audio was recorded on reel-toreel tape. Now, all digital!

Dwight: The changes have been in the technology behind the scenes, in how the programming is delivered. However, basically it’s still radio as it was in the past – the announcer sharing the music with the listeners.

If you had not become a radio announcer, what job do you think you'd be doing instead?

Raymond: If not radio, then educator. I actually had a dual career as an educator, and have a Doctorate in Education from Virginia Tech.

Dwight: Hard to say at this point. Probably something to do with field biology.

What other hobbies do you have that may surprise listeners?

Raymond: I have an advanced open water scuba rating and I also collect playing cards (although I do not play cards!).

Dwight: I enjoy puttering around in the garage making smoking pipes.

Raymond, you have loaned your voice to many local events through the years including the Virginia International Tattoo and our annual spelling bee. Have people always sought you out for your voice?

Raymond: Once I was an adult, I have constantly been sought out for announcing, narrating and emceeing.

Did you ever take any type of voice over lessons?

Raymond: Never had a voice lesson in my life (and although I can announce, I can't sing a lick).

Dwight, you have an on-air segment, Bird Notes, that has become quite popular. How did you get interested in birds?

Dwight: They simply caught my eye when I was very young. As with classical music, birds are always fascinating and there’s always more to
enjoy and learn about them.

Do you have a favorite bird?

Dwight: It’s very hard to choose, but I still recall seeing a Blackburnian warbler in a shaft of sunlight on a May morning in Vermont. That’s at least a favorite
memory of a bird.

Raymond hosts Evening Classics, Sunday Classics, A Local Touch and This Just In. Dwight hosts Morning Classics, From the Parlor and Bird Notes.

Hear them all on WHRO FM 90.3.

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