Host: Zyg Janecki

Zyg Janecki has been producing and hosting Starlight Concert since 1997 with FM985. He provides a variety of theme shows each Monday evening, spotlighting or commemorating the anniversaries of the births and deaths of composers and artists and their musical careers. He also interviews local guest artists, conductors, soloists, and musicians performing in the local churches to international performers at the Centre in the Square with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. His shows also feature special occasions like New Year’s in Vienna, Hallowe’en, Summer and Winter Olympics, Remembrance Day, and more. Zyg has been involved in classical music since he was 11 years old. Zyg has been a violinist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Community Orchestra since 2001 and has performed with the KWCO orchestra locally and in Prague, Salzburg, Vienna, and Liverpool areas and with the Toronto Youth Symphony at Massey Hall, Toronto, and in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the International Festival of Youth Orchestras in 1969.

Host: Doug Gibson

Host: John Brenner

Host: Mike Thurnell

Mike’s love for music and radio began at an early age, growing up in London, England. He bought his first record at the age of 5 and hasn’t stopped yet.

Mike started in radio at the age of 16 and has worked as an on-air announcer and program director at radio stations all over Ontario. Stops include Guelph, Stratford, Kitchener, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Brantford, and Woodstock.

Stress-free, meditative music that will help you relax and unwind. Mike Thurnell presents serene, peaceful music from artists like Enya, Secret Garden, and Loreena McKennitt.

Host: Coral Andrews

Spotlight on Local Arts.  Expect the Unexpected!  Wild at Heart Wednesdays – Little Chats. Lotsa Music and Helluva Lot of Fun.
Coral Rockks – Sponsored by SNickelFritz Kitchens

Host: Ralph Doyle

Host: James Jordan
Rock And Roll has a special place for some of us deep in our souls, and it is important to continue that love and knowledge for generations to come. We also provide a platform for up-and-coming Canadian musicians to be heard by the masses.

Calling out to all music lovers! Join James Jordan and find out. How Rock Rolled on Wednesday nights, 10 – 11 PM! James Jordan has played a part behind the scenes with community radio, as well as on the airwaves with all sorts of different kinds of shows and podcasts for over 10 years in the Waterloo Region! It has been James’ prerogative to offer a voice for the voiceless in our community. Whether it be providing a platform for minorities in sports, interviewing professional race car drivers and wrestlers, or just hanging around after gigs with musicians. 

Host: Mike Thurnell

Mike’s love for music and radio began at an early age, growing up in London, England. He bought his first record at the age of 5 and hasn’t stopped yet.

Mike started in radio at the age of 16 and has worked as an on-air announcer and program director at radio stations all over Ontario. Stops include Guelph, Stratford, Kitchener, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Brantford, and Woodstock.

Each week, Mike Thurnell is your tour guide as he travels back in time to play early cuts from progressive rock giants like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, and The Moody Blues.

Host: Willy A
All the Blues you can use.

Willy A has been hosting the Old Chicago Blues Show for the past 21 years, on FM 98.5, CKWR. Growing up in Toronto in the 1960’s, he was exposed to both Blues and RnB music, through listening to radio stations WBLK and WUFO (Buffalo) and WLAC (Nashville). The tremendous emotion of this music, lead Willy to exploring a part-time, semi-professional singing career with Toronto based bands; The Ambassadors, The Spirit and The Delphi Revue. Singing became a life-long passion that follows him to this day, currently performing with the classic Jazz combo, A Record Day.

In 2003, Willy and several other Blues music lovers decided it was time to re-create a Blues Society for the Grand River watershed region; appropriately calling it, The Grand River Blues Society. As a founding member, he remained on the Board of Directors for 10 years and has emceed countless Blues events over the last 20 years.

Willy’s passion for the Blues is self-evident and that unbridled enthusiasm translates into a weekly Old Chicago Blues Show, which reflects a smorgasbord of Blues styles and artists, for even the most discerning Blues Lover. The show also includes artist features and an RnB Corner, utilizing his own personal music collection. So, please be sure to join him each week, on Thursday evenings from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, for a truly entertaining session of the finest Blues.

Old Chicago Blues is proudly sponsored by Ethel’s Lounge.

Host: Tim Moher

When Tim Moher isn’t prepping for his radio shows, he is a saxophonist who leads TMJAZZ, Take Five, and the Clefs of Moher. Additionally, he has performed with Orchestra London, Stratford Symphony Orchestra, The Royal City Saxophone Quartet, and Wellington Winds and is presently with KW Big Band Theory. As a retired teacher, he founded Belmont Village Bestival in 2017, a rapidly growing music and arts festival with 20,000+ visitors in the beautiful Belmont Village, Kitchener. Tim feels great privilege in bringing Canadian and internationally acclaimed artists, as well as amazing local jazz talent, to his weekly show, TMJAZZ and Beyond.

Tim Moher has always enjoyed great music of all kinds, but jazz music spoke to him in his early years. On a high school band trip, Tim saw his first big band at an International Jazz Festival in Toronto. Maynard Ferguson’s band “blew his socks off.” Around the same time, he also received a birthday gift of a Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck album. So Tim’s influences range from the big band sound to the cool jazz stylings of Paul Desmond to this day. But his one-hour jazz show is an exploration of all jazz stylings (Bossa, Fusion, Be Bop, Latin, Swing, etc) as well as recent, cutting-edge compositions. Each week, Tim creates a theme for the show and takes great pride in reaching out to today’s jazz artists for their latest creations. So tune in to FM985 on Thursday evenings at 9 pm and join Tim while he explores some of the great jazz standards, all while learning more about our present-day influencers in Jazz.

Host: Gruesome Geddes

Hosts: Pete Fowler & Greg Secord
40 years of alternative music spanning multiple genres.

Host: Aubrey Brawley
Transporting you back to a time of neon, big shoulders, and even bigger hair! You’ll embark on a musical journey through the era of synth-pop, post-punk, and alternative rock. A curated playlist featuring not only New Wave classics but also hidden gems, rarities, remixes, b-sides, and imports that defined the underground music scene of that era. Rediscover the music that soundtracked your youth and uncover some hidden treasures you might have missed the first time around.

Host: Larry Peters
Explore Classic Rock – Deep cuts and history rolled into one entertaining hour.

Host: Rob Daniels

Rob Daniels is the host/producer of the movie, TV, and video game soundtrack radio program “Visions In Sound.” In June of 2000, Rob first went on the air on 100.3FM CKMS in Waterloo, Ontario. (Now 102.7FM). To date, Rob’s show is on 98.5 CKWR. Rob has also interviewed numerous composers, including Howard Shore, Bear McCreary, John Powell, Mark Snow, Lolita Ritmanis, Nami Melumad, and many others. As of 2025, Rob also does weekly soundtrack reviews on his YouTube channel and has a 2 times weekly soundtrack show on Twitch. Rob has a broadcast radio and television diploma from Conestoga College and has spent his career working in TV, radio, and theater.

Visions In Sound is a long-running radio program hosted and produced by Rob Daniels, celebrating the powerful worlds of movie, TV, and video game soundtracks. Since first hitting the airwaves in June 2000 on CKMS in Waterloo, the show has grown into a trusted destination for soundtrack fans, currently airing on 98.5 CKWR as well as online at visionsinsound.ca. With over 25 years behind the mic, Rob brings listeners wonderful music, insightful commentary, and exclusive interviews with some of the industry’s top composers, including Howard Shore, Bear McCreary, John Powell, Mark Snow, Lolita Ritmanis, Nami Melumad, and many, many more. Expanding beyond radio, Visions In Sound now reaches audiences through YouTube reviews and twice-weekly Twitch streams, continuing its mission to explore and celebrate the music that shapes our favorite stories on screen and beyond.

Host: Chris djc4 Fournier

Born and raised in Waterloo, Dean Clarke is a proud WCI Class of ’89 graduate and has been a volunteer at CKWR 98.5 FM for over 20 years. He’s spent more than 20 years coaching hockey in Waterloo and Kitchener, and 10 years coaching his two daughters in Waterloo girls softball until they aged out. On-air, he brings that same energy and dedication to Rock On Saturdays, sharing classic rock, local stories, and a love for the music that shaped a generation

Hosts: Pete & Katelyn
The greatest music you’ve never heard.

Host: Madame Ravencroft

Born in Toronto and grew up Goth, she now calls Kitchener home. Ms.
Ravencroft is a tall, statuesque, assertive, wise woman who studied
martial arts for much of her life. Graduating from Rosedale Heights
School for the Arts in Toronto with high honors in the early 80s.
She’s a sassy Wiccan with a dark fashion sense to her core. Tamara is
pleasantly eccentric, and her fellow Goths around the world, and locally
in the Waterloo Region; love it that way!

The Darkside with Madame Ravencroft is a 2-hour
Gothic music-centered entertainment show where music from the counter
The culture of Goth, from the past to the present, is proudly featured. Madame Ravencroft provides some informative insights into the
realm of Goths, the occult, and the world of the supernatural and
paranormal from time to time. The Darkside is a program where dark,
delightful music covering the genre of Goth Rock and its associated
adjacent family of coverage involving Darkwave/Coldwave, Post-Punk,
Occult & Pagan Rock and Gothic Metal may be found. So, if you love Goths
and their music. This music has bite, and it’s where you can sink your
fangs into here … on Classic Rock FM 98.5.

Host: Claude McDonald
Wind down your day with classical music and poetry.