WWFM The Classical Network will set the stage for Oscar night with a weekend filled with music from the big screen March 5 through 7.

“Lights, Camera…Music!” will kick off Friday, March 5, with a daylong, on-air tribute to the music of John Williams (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones), Bernard Hermann (Psycho, North by Northwest) and other composers behind the soundtracks of movie blockbusters. The celebration will continue through Sunday as a “Theme Stream” – an online-only program available via the station’s Internet streaming.

The weekend’s programming will include original music from film scores, such as Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia and The Godfather, as well as classical music masterpieces that have been immortalized in movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Fantasia. The Theme Stream will also feature concert works by composers most often associated with film scores, such as Erich Wolfgang Korngold (The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk) and Miklos Rozsa (Spellbound, Ben-Hur).

The event is the latest in The Classical Network’s efforts to focus on one-day celebrations centered around a theme, such as Beethoven’s birthday or Thanksgiving, as part of its member development strategy, and to move away from the standard week-long pledge drive that has been the usual fundraising tool for public radio.

The Classical Network, operating out of Mercer County Community College, began broadcasting in 1982 and has grown into a full time classical music station serving New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and portions of Delaware and Maryland, as well as reaching listeners around the world through wwfm.org. In the fall of 2008, the station launched Jazz on 2, a 24-hour jazz station available on its HD channel 2.

For more information, contact David Osenberg at (609) 570-3702 or (215) 385-0257, or E-mail info@wwfm.org.