Glen Newton, Public Access Television Announcer

Glen Newton has been the host for numerous public access television broadcasts of concerts at Roseville Area High School (RAHS), Totino-Grace High School, and Roseville Area Middle School, including the annual middle school operas. He has also been the television host for concerts by the Shoreview Northern Lights Variety Band. For the City of Roseville's Rosefest parades, Glen has been a roving interviewer of marching band personnel as well as co-anchoring the broadcast and hosting the awards ceremonies.

A special part of the concert broadcasts is introducing the television audience to people involved in the musical productions. Since his first concert broadcast, the RAHS Jazz Plus concert in February, 1992, he has conducted televised interviews of hundreds of students, faculty, and special guests. In recognition of his volunteer public access television work, Glen was inducted into the CTV 15 Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2001, he received the "Hot Mic" award for his voiceovers between musical selections as well as his on-camera work.

Behind the scenes, Glen has served as a score reader and camera operator for CTV concert broadcasts. He has also run audio for the Slice of Shoreview parades.

The following article by John Rusterholz appeared in the October/November 2002 issue of NSCC Networks, a publication of the North Suburban Communications Commission:

Glen Newton steps down as voice of RAHS concert videos

After more than 10 years of being the voice of the Roseville Area High School (RAHS) Music Department to our communities, Glen Newton has decided to step down. Since the beginning of 1992, Glen has faithfully hosted cablecasts of more than a hundred RAHS concerts. An extremely talented musician himself, he has applied his vast knowledge of music and musical instruments to highlight the music program at RAHS.

In addition to constantly championing the quality of the RAHS music program, he has conducted several hundred interviews with faculty, students and guest artists. Virtually all of the top music students of the past decade have been interviewed by him at one time or another. A skilled and dedicated interviewer, Glen would spend many hours in advance of each concert talking with these students and preparing these interviews so as to present the students in the best possible light.

Glen's programs have been a staple of CTV15, the public access channel for the north suburbs of the Twin Cities. Community members throughout the area have learned to look forward to and appreciate the top-quality cablecasts of these concerts. His keen musical insights and ever-present sense of humor will be sorely missed by all. For these many years of outstanding volunteer service to our school and our community, we thank you, Glen.

At each of the concerts in the first series of the 2002-2003 school year (since each night's audiences included a different group of parents), the administration of Roseville Area High School presented Glen with an engraved plaque (the same one each night, not four separate plaques) saying the following:

In recognition of your service and dedication to the musical arts, the staff and music students of Roseville Area High School express our sincere appreciation and thanks to Glen Newton.

To introduce the presentation of the plaques, the administrators used personalized variations of the following text supplied by vocal music teacher Tim McMillin:

Before we begin this evening's musical program, there is one special person in the auditorium who the Roseville School District and music department would like to acknowledge and thank. Ten years ago, our local access television station, CTV, began covering the musical events at Roseville Area High School. This was due in part to the vision of the man who was to become the voice of Roseville Music Concerts on CTV, Dr. Glen Newton.

An accomplished musical performer and arranger himself, Glen Newton has served as score reader, interviewer, and on-air host for almost all musical events at Roseville Area High School for the last ten years. His service has included countless hours spent arranging interviews, phoning students and staff members to make the future interviews run smoothly, musical research in order to add interesting commentary to the on-air programming, and generally helping to make the overall quality of the musical productions the best and most professional in the metro area.

At this time, please welcome Dr. Glen Newton to the stage. (APPLAUSE) As a token of appreciation, the Department of Music and Roseville Area High School would like to present you, Glen, with this plaque. (READ PLAQUE)

Although he has reduced his involvement in the Roseville Area High School concerts, Glen continues to team with producer John Rusterholz and other volunteers to record and broadcast a few concerts each year.

His work with CTV is the pinnacle of Glen's broadcasting career, which began as a 16-year-old in his home town. Each Sunday morning, Glen sat in a small room with engineer John Janacek, waiting for his cue that Big Rapids radio station WBRN had switched over to their live broadcast. He then said his one line: "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the radio broadcast of the Sunday morning worship service of the United Church of Big Rapids, Michigan." And that was it until the following Sunday.

This page was last updated
Friday, February 07, 2020.


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