Jeff Spurgeon

Jeff Spurgeon is finding your corner in the big, bold world of classical music. He is the morning host on WQXR.

Raised on a farm in western Nebraska, Jeff Spurgeon was never a good farm kid. He was, however, a natural born speaker. A retired local radio station owner’s chance visit to Jeff’s church on the day he was presenting announcements led to an audition that sparked the beginning of Jeff’s broadcasting career. However, his upward climb was delayed briefly by a slight lateral lisp that had to be addressed through rigorous speech therapy sessions. The experience, while debilitating at the time, made Jeff acutely aware of his speech patterns, and his self-consciousness ultimately developed into an awareness that has since served as an asset in his career.

Jeff worked at pop stations in Nebraska for years before meeting the love of his life and moving with her to New York. By the time a slot at WQXR became a possibility in 1996, Jeff had been an avid listener of the station for years, partially in admiration for radio greats like Lloyd Moss, June LaBelle, and now-colleague Nimet Habachy, and partially out of a genuine love for the music. But he failed his first audition — the knowledge he had gleaned from childhood piano lessons and listening to WQXR just wasn’t sufficient. Thankfully, a second try brought success. When he got to the station, he knew he was still very much a fish out of water, so he got straight to work, studying and learning on the fly, and finding his passions within the genre. Today, Jeff is WQXR’s morning host, bolstering listeners on their morning commute and encouraging them to find their home in the big, bold world of classical music.