WVOC 91.3FM

Radio station WVOC 91.3FM is the only community radio station in Quonsettville, Vermont.

Established in 1982, WVOC 91.3FM operates from a house on Sebastopol Avenue, just a few minutes walk from the shore of Quonsett Pond. (The house was purchased in 1986 after extensive fundraising by the WVOC Founding Committee, with half the money coming from one donor alone, the late Muriel Bathilde Marching. Before then, it broadcast 6 hours a day – 10.00am to 4.00pm – from Muriel Marching’s living room on Melville Avenue. Muriel’s favorite nephew Sheldon Bathilde was the station’s sole presenter at the time.)

WVOC‘s charter states its aim is to broaden the cultural life of Quonsettville, its environs and residents by broadcasting classical music, which it does 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

It does not accept advertising but it does accept ‘sponsorship’, though only from local businesses.

WVOC began broadcasting live online in January 2018. It can be found at wvocradiofreequonsettville.com/livestream.

WVOC‘s most popular program is Breakfast with Brendalee, 6.30 to 9.15am Monday to Friday, hosted by Brendalee Bernard. The most popular spot on Brendalee’s program is the Regular Ravel Request, played at 7.05 until about 7.22 every morning, when she plays Boléro by Maurice Ravel. She selects at whim from five different recordings. The most recent addition to her Boléro broadcast list was made in February 2021, when she added Pierre Boulez conducting the Berlin Philharmonic (originally released by Deutsche Grammophon in 1994). This recording, however, is rarely played, and some listeners think only under sufferance.

The other 4 recordings of Boléro Brendalee broadcasts are:

• Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (Decca, 1981);

• Riccardo Chailly conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Decca, 1987);

• Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon, 1985); and

• Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon, 1966).

While WVOC is dedicated to broadcasting live recordings of local performances, this is something it is rarely given the opportunity to do.

There is only one other radio station broadcasting from Quonsettville, WQUO 103.7FM. It is a commercial station with a small studio and office on Station Street (so named for the railroad station, not the radio station). Its schedule includes mostly commercial country music, with a lean to pop music on weekends. The Van Holster family owns the station.

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