Elliott Forrest

Elliott Forrest, small-Town Texan with a a think-big producer’s mentality, is the weekday afternoon host on WQXR. 

Elliott Forrest discovered the storytelling power of classical music in the formative years of his music education through Rimsky-Korsakov’s exquisite Scheherazade. He had always loved telling stories, and he had decided early on that he would pursue a career in show business that would allow him to do just that for a living. At the age of 17, Elliott was a high school student with big dreams working a part-time job at a gas station. The problem was, he hated it. So, he did what any other teenager in his situation would do: He walked right into the local television station without a meeting and asked, “You guys don’t need anybody, do you?” 

Turns out, they did, and he became the production assistant. The following summer, the same line got him his first ever radio job as the overnight announcer at his local station, and when work at a Kansas City theater company led to a brief commercial recording session, his signature query landed him his first gig with a classical station. 

Today, as the weekday afternoon host of WQXR, Elliott provides the soundtrack to listeners’ daily commutes, offering them a window to the arts. His wildly popular brainchild The Score at Four — inspired by his love of film — has become a weekday staple, and he continues to push the boundaries of what it means to be a classical music radio station with similarly novel programming initiatives. Beyond the studio, Elliott works as a director, producer, and television host, and he also serves as Executive and Artistic Director of ArtsRock, a Not-For-Profit organization in Rockland County.