Karl Haas (December 6, 1913February 6, 2005) was a German-American classical music radio host, known for his sonorous speaking voice, humanistic approach to music appreciation, and popularization of classical music. He was the host of the classical music radio program Adventures in Good Music, which was syndicated to commercial and public radio stations around the world. He also published the book Inside Music. He was a respected musicologist, as well as an accomplished pianist and conductor.
Early life and family
Haas was born in Speyer, Palatinate, Germany in 1913. He studied at the Mannheim Conservatory and earned a doctorate in music literature from Heidelberg University. He studied piano with Artur Schnabel. He and his wife, Trudie, had two sons and one daughter. Trudie died in 1977. Syndicated broadcasts of the show across the United States began in 1970 on WCLV, a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. The show was eventually syndicated to commercial and public radio stations around the world and became the world's most widely heard classical music radio program.
The theme music for Adventures in Good Music was the second movement from Beethoven's "Pathétique" Sonata (Sonata No. 8 in C minor), performed by Haas live for each program. He started every show with his trademark greeting "Hello everyone", and later entitled a track of his CD with those words. For several years the program had the most listeners of any classical music radio show in the world. President George H. W. Bush presented the award to him at the White House. Haas also twice won the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting.
Haas did not produce any new episodes of the show in the last two years of his life. He was survived by his sons, Jeffrey and Andrew, by his daughter, Alyce, and by two grandchildren.