5 Feb 2018

What’s up with Upbeat

From Upbeat, 1:00 pm on 5 February 2018

Upbeat on RNZ Concert is undergoing some changes, but the team behind the scenes and behind the microphones remain dedicated to bringing interesting and engaging stories and music to you.

RNZ Concert's David Morriss and Eva Radich

RNZ Concert's David Morriss and Eva Radich Photo: RNZ / Clarissa Dunn

Today Eva Radich handed over the hosting of the daily show to another familiar voice, David Morriss, thus launching a new era of Upbeat.

Upbeat has had a few changes since its inception in the early 2000s. For the past two years it’s been an hour of mainly talk each day, and it became clear that RNZ Concert radio listeners prefer more music.

So, from the end of February the radio programme will extend to three hours from 12-3pm on weekdays. You’ll find topical music, new releases, reviews and other features interleaved with news and current affairs about music and the arts, presented in a range of different ways.

Stories will be brought to Upbeat by a wider range of RNZ staff and other contributors. We will draw on our extensive knowledge of music and the arts, and get the ‘people in the know’ to share their insights.

The changes come as the RNZ Concert team takes a wider approach to our coverage. We believe each story should be treated in the way that best serves it, and its audience, and that means delivering it to its audiences wherever they will discover and enjoy it.

Some people like to listen to Upbeat’s news and current affairs stories on the radio, some listen online, and some prefer to read, rather than hear, our stories. Others like visual media such as video and photographs.

Our role is to help New Zealanders enjoy and interact with classical music, arts and culture however – and wherever - they choose. So you’ll be able to find our current affairs stories on air at 1pm weekdays, on our website rnz.co.nz/upbeat, through the new RNZ app, and via RNZ Concert’s Facebook and Twitter channels.

While David Morriss takes the hot seat in the Upbeat studio, Eva Radich steps into an editorial role, making use of her background in journalism, as well as her 11 years’ experience as interviewer for Upbeat, to focus the unique work we do to document and reflect New Zealand’s music and arts culture and communities, particularly though Upbeat and Music Alive.

You’ll still hear Eva on air from time-to-time, both on Upbeat, and in a new music programme she will host each Sunday.

RNZ Concert will continue to tell the music, arts and culture stories that matter to New Zealand.