Nicolas Chatzigianis with his modular synthesizer.

...and that might explain the lifelong love affair. I began on the radio at my college  station, WCBN in "the basement of the student activities building" at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, during the tumultuous 1969-1972 period - and subsequently worked my way through  carts, reel-to-reels, cassettes, DATS, and other digital delights through the subsequent decades. I've worked at an advertising agency making radio commercials (starting out, like Peggy, as a secretary), a small commercial station (selling ads in the morning, making the spots in the afternoon, hearing them on the air on the way home), to nearly two decades in NYC as an indie producer, and then a spoken word producer at WNYC New York Public Radio. After moving to France in 1992, I've had the pleasure of sampling the broadcasting Europe has to offer. I present here a few highlights.

A visit to La Maison Radio France in Paris is always a happy moment for me. Especially when I can meet up with other sound artists. 

Sounds of a summer night

Talking about "la radio" on the radio.

Very happy to be with my friends The Art of Improvisation on our favorite Friday night broadcast. (at left, Olivier Thir)

With Art of Improvisation, Nice.

Contributing to the BBC is also a wonderful opportunity. I've made two pieces for Between the Ears on Radio 3 (Jan Michelle and A Britain of the Mind), Je Ne Sais Pas What to Do for Radio 3 features, Present Progressive for Radio 4 drama, and Imagine an Onion, a documentary for radio arts features about the building of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

Pictured: Jan Michelle Kerouac, author of Baby Driver and Train Song, in Hawaii .

Before leaving New York, I was lucky enough to meet Klaus Schoening, the dramaturg from WDR Cologne who had commissioned John Cage's Roaratorio. He commissioned my piece Roadtrip. He came to New York and curated an event at the Whitney Museum featuring John Cage (who was there, with the others) and which included my piece. This gave me a glimpse into something else I could aspire to do.

What a time! I had it in mind that only radio drama would do. I had the pleasure of commissioning and producing original plays for my series The Radio Stage and got to work at The Public Theatre, New Dramatists, The Acting Company; Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mabou Mines, La Mama, Circle Repertory and others, and with playwrights including Daniel Therriault, Eric Overmyer, Wendy Wasserstein, Thomas Babe, Elizabeth Swados, and Elana Greenfield.

I also got to work as an Associate Producer on Small Things Considered and on  Kid's America with the marvelous Keith Talbot. I played a doll, a parrot and a French Canadian scientist, and produced "The Mystery History Guest" and "Drawing to Classical Music" segments.  Just as I left to do The Radio Stage, our new intern, Ira Glass, had just joined the show. (Sure am proud of him.)  I also served as the first radio producer for WNYC's Selected Shorts at Symphony Space

My early years in New York were like the experiences of many a young lemming drawn to the city's charms...some waitressing, a little stand-up comedy, auditions for commercials, a foray into advertising  and a lot of rejection. I'm not sure what life would have been like if I hadn't bumped into the radio crowd at the AIRLIE seminars. Soon  I was wandering the streets with a Sony TC5 and mic, and making programs for WBAI with New York IPS. (One of our efforts was featured on Tellus #11) I was one of the original ten hopefuls that sat around a kitchen table on Murray Street and founded AIR.

Larry Josephson of The Radio Foundation gave me my first job working with the comedians Bob and Ray as Associate Producer. The most memorable moment was A Night of Two Stars, two sold out nights at Carnegie Hall.

This was my first big production funded by a grant, and featuring fictional/documentary techniques and poetry. Jay Allison, Lou Giansante and I won a Peabody Award for this very personal story.