David Elliott, the longtime mainstay of WHRB, the Harvard radio station, died yesterday at the age of seventy-eight, after a two-year struggle with ALS. For decades, David had been a pillar of the Boston classical-music scene, conducting countless interviews on his Monday-night program. His devotion to WHRB as an institution was absolute and selfless. At several crucial moments, he acted to save the station at a time when the Harvard administration was not particularly concerned about its fate. Under his guidance, WHRB became a place of musical discovery for generation after generation of undergraduates. So it was for me. My career and life would have been completely different without David's intervention.
I tried out for WHRB in spring 1987, at the suggestion of my freshman roommate Jon Lehrich, who, as it happens, has succeeded David as the chair of the station's board of trustees. David immediately noticed me as someone who was unusually interested in new music, music history, and recordings, and encouraged me at every turn. I remember his delight when I organized a chronological survey of the complete works of Benjamin Britten; many of the recordings came from his vast personal collection. In 1988, he had the idea of adding record reviews to the WHRB Program Guide. I now realize that he was opening a path for me even without my knowing it. On a more personal level, I was then a rather troubled kid, as the photograph above hints, and David was one of two adults on campus — the other was Robert Kiely — who gave me wise and gentle guidance. I owe him an incalculable debt, and mourn his loss alongside innumerable others.
A Harvard Gazette article from last year tells more of David's life and achievement. And Jeremy Eichler has written a beautiful obituary for the Boston Globe.
