After a nationwide search, the new face of jazz, blues and NPR news on the Eastern Shore is local.
Stephen Philip Harvey, an acclaimed saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator whose genre-spanning work blends jazz, classical, funk, hip-hop, and gospel, will become the new music director of Delmarva Public Media’s three FM public radio stations: WESM 91.3 (Jazz), WSCL 89.5 (Classical), WSDL 90.7 FM (Adult Album Alternative) on July 1, 2025.
“Stephen is a tremendously talented musician and bandleader who wows audiences on stage as a performer and inspires students in the classroom as an educator,” said Bryan Russo, Delmarva Public Media’s chief content officer. “He joins a long list of jazz musicians like Christian McBride of NPR’s Jazz Night in America to expand their impact on the arts community to the radio airwaves.”
Harvey is the founder of Hidden Cinema Records, and is the leader of several distinct ensembles, including his large ensemble Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra (SPHJO). His discography includes Multiversal: Live at Bop Stop (2025), Live at Radio Artifact (2024), Elemental (Live) (2024), Library Card (2024), Sphinx (2023), Elemental (2023), Smash! (2022), and Suite Childhood (2016).
“I’m really looking forward to bringing my love and knowledge of music to help evolve and expand these station’s rich history of great music programming of not just jazz and blues, but classical, world, funk, soul and the myriad of new music that is there for us to discover,” Harvey said.
He will succeed Peter Solomon, who served as music director from 2021-2023. Since Solomon’s departure the job has been re-imagined and expanded to oversee the musical direction of all three stations, according to Robert Vickers, the vice president of Strategic Communications and Marketing at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore who led the hiring process.
“Stephen is a phenomenal addition to WESM and Delmarva Public Media,” Vickers said. “His deep knowledge of jazz and classical music, as well as his experience as a music educator and a performing musician, will add tremendous value to our listeners and to our community.”
Harvey currently teaches as an adjunct professor at Salisbury University and Youngstown State University, and his work has been recognized by Seton Hill University, Jazz Education Network, and Maryland State Arts Council. His musical compositions have been performed by the Orchestre National de Jazz in Paris, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, the Peabody Conservatory, and the University of North Texas, among others. He has collaborated with National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master Roscoe Mitchell, who describes Harvey as “an exceptional musician with a very bright future.”
Delmarva Public Media is a 3-station collaboration between the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Salisbury University.
For more information on music programs, local news coverage, or student-produced initiatives, visit www.delmarvapublicmedia.org.
