THE WORLD IS LISTENING

November 22, 2008

Calling all Salvos!

Tom Quick, a third-generation Salvationist, now has a global listenership spanning North America, Europe and Australia, thanks to a weekly classical-music program, Monday Night Concert, which features Salvation Army music the last Monday of every month on 98.5 CKWR FM.

"I don't know of another two-hour broadcast of Salvation Army music on the planet. There are a lot of Salvation Army radio broadcasts but not like the one we do," notes host and producer Quick, as wife Betty Ann fields phone calls from the U.S. to Australia.

Since December 2000, CKWR's Monday Night Concert has literally become a blessing for musicians and ministries everywhere, featuring guest sponsors from a different Salvation Army church or family service each month.

As Quick helps area Salvation Army churches spread the word, he spreads the newest Sounds of Salvation from choral music to brass bands.

Monday's broadcast will feature The Guelph Citadel, as Quick premieres exclusive selections from England's King Singers, who play Centennial Hall in London, Ont., on Nov. 29, and The International Staff Band.

Now in Canada for 23 years, playing trombone since age seven, and still performing with his band Gospel Brass, Quick, the "almost retired" builder from Australia via Cornwall, England, dubs himself a "professional amateur" and classical music lover. He possesses a likeable on-air Brit/Aussie/Canuck lilt, reflecting his early radio days which began in 1975 at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

In addition to Monday Night Concert, Quick also hosts and produces Faith FM's Music for the Soul.

His home library consists of 7,000 CDs, many sent from around the world, including 500 discs of Salvo music.

Quick's Salvation Army music idea stemmed from thinking that Salvation Army churches could use his show as a thank you for community support. The melodic inspiration began Sunday nights on CKWR's now-defunct Let There Be Praise, with Quick then deciding to expand the popular half-hour segment for his new show, Monday Night Concert.

When CKWR joined online radio ranks, Quick began signing Salvation Army music website guestbooks, including The Brass Crest and Brasslink. Brasslink webmaster Steef Klepke, cornet player for the Amsterdam Staff Band, immediately created for Quick a "website gift" -- www.salvos.com/tomquick -- which Klepke still maintains.

England's Salvationist magazine featured Quick, which attracted the attention of Amsterdam's Peter Van Horssen, who downloads the program for Quick's website and Amsterdam West Radio.

"That was phenomenal and really put us into Europe," beams Quick, who met Klepke and Van Horssen in Holland and invited them to his home last summer.

Monday Night Concert can be also heard on New York's Sallytube and Australia's Salvo Audio, which featurs an Easter program which CKWR helped Quick download and send.

Salvo Audio creator John Bannister says Quick's Salvation Army broadcast is "in the top two per cent of listenership and the site gets 400,000 hits a month from 74 countries around the world."

For Salvationists everywhere, Quick continues to be the unsung hero of global communication.