Karl Haas (December 6, 1913February 6, 2005) was a German-American classical music radio host, known for his sonorous speaking voice, humanistic approach to music appreciation, and popularization of classical music. He was the host of the classical music radio program Adventures in Good Music, which was syndicated to commercial and public radio stations around the world. He also published the book Inside Music. He was a respected musicologist, as well as an accomplished pianist and conductor. In 1996, he received an honorary degree in Doctor of Letters from Oglethorpe University. Early life and family Haas was born in Speyer, Palatinate, Germany in 1913. He studied at the Mannheim Conservatory and earned a doctorate in music literature from Heidelberg University. He studied piano with Artur Schnabel. Faced with the rise of Nazism, the Jewish Haas fled Germany for the United States in 1936. He first settled in Detroit, Michigan, then lived in other places, returning to Detroit near the end of his life. He and his wife, Trudie, had two sons and one daughter. Trudie died in 1977. Adventures in Good Music Haas began his radio program, Adventures in Good Music, on WJR in Detroit, Michigan in 1959. Syndicated broadcasts of the show across the United States began in 1970 on WCLV, a Cleveland, Ohio radio station. The show was eventually syndicated to commercial and public radio stations around the world and became the world's most widely listened-to classical music radio program. The theme music for Adventures in Good Music was the second movement from Beethoven's "Pathétique" Sonata (Sonata No. 8 in C minor), performed by Haas live for each program. He started every show with his trademark greeting "Hello everyone", and later entitled a track of his CD with those words. For several years the program had the most listeners of any classical music radio show in the world. Haas received the Charles Frankel Award of the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1991. President George H. W. Bush presented the award to him at the White House. Haas also twice won the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting. In 1997 he became the first classical music broadcaster to be named to the National Radio Hall of Fame. Haas did not produce any new episodes of the show in the last two years of his life. WCLV continued to syndicate recordings of his previous shows until June 2007.