Giovanni Gabrieli's triple-brass quintets were among his opening themes. The show closed with Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds (K. 297b). In addition to his calm manner, Lurtsema displayed a subtle sense of humor. On April Fools' Day 1982, he stood in for the singing birds with his own deadpan chirping, and on April Fools' Day 1992, the birds were replaced by howling wolves. Aware of his reputation for long pauses, on another April Fools' Day Lurtsema presented selections of his "best pauses." On the morning after the presidential election of 1980, Lurtsema joked that "there is no news worth reporting this morning" and proceeded with the program, On the morning of April 5, 1985, Lurtsema joined more than 8,000 other radio stations in a simultaneous broadcast of the song "We Are the World" Starting in 1995, Lurtsema and his production team traveled to Seranak Mansion at Tanglewood Music Center for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's opening weekend of the summer season. From the mansion, Morning Pro Musica featured interviews and live performances with Seiji Ozawa, Roger Norrington, Boje Shovus, Claudio Abbado, Gil Shaham, Emmanuel Ax, John Williams, Arlo Guthrie, Maurice Abravenal and many others. Lurtsema also narrated an episode of the science show Nova titled "Where Did the Colorado Go?," first aired on March 10, 1974 and later on the BBC. Lurtsema died in 2000 from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Betsy Northrup, his romantic partner of ten years, survived him. He also left a mother, two sisters and a brother. References External links WAMC.net's reprinting of Lurtsema's obit from the Boston Globe AMPPR: Robert J. Lurtsema Scholarship Where Did The Colorado Go? on YouTube Profile of Lurtsema on ''wgbhalumni.org 1931 births 2000 deaths WGBH Educational Foundation American radio personalities American voice actors Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis Radio personalities from Boston