About the Classical Music Guide

Ward Botsford, Grammy award winning classical and spoken arts record producer, created the Classicla Music Guide in the late 1990'2 as an outlet for classical music enthusiasts. Before CMG, many of the residents of this website could be found, with Ward, over at MSN's now defunct Classical Music Forum.

Ward devoted his life to classical music. He died on April 1, 2004 due to complications from MDS, a form of leukemia. He was 76. Lance Hill, a fellow long time classical music aficionado and close friend of Ward's, has now taken over the reins of Classical Music Guide.

Botsford was considered by many to be the penultimate classical music maven. His extensive recording work with many of the great classical music performers of our time included Sir Thomas Beecham, Guiomar Novaes, The London Symphony Orchestra, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera company and many others. Botsford's work was produced on a variety of labels including Urania Records, Vox Productions (with which he was Vice President and co-owner), and Arabesque Records (Botsford founded Arabesque Records in 1980).

In a December 1987 article in the NY Times, Botsford was referred to as a man "who brings a happy combination to his job: 30 years of practical experience in the classical record business together with a collector's enthusiasm and knowledge of the field." Botsford pioneered the reissuing of historical recordings, discovering overlooked gems of past repertoire as well as championing unusual works of new and upcoming talents.

Prior to founding Arabesque, Botsford's career included a wide variety of spoken arts productions for radio, film and records. As Producer/Director of Caedmon Records, he produced and directed numerous plays and book adaptations including Death of a Salesman with Lee J. Cobb and the original RCS production of Marat/Sade. His radio work included writing and directing programs with stars such as Mike Douglas, Carol Channing, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mathis, Harry Chapin and Tammy Grimes. Botsford served as a voice director for the Tristar animated film "Pound Puppies & the Legend of Big Paw".

Botsford received several Grammy awards as well as countless nominations for his spoken arts work. He received Grammys for Ages of Man with Sir John Gielgud, The Grapes of Wrath with Henry Fonda and Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein with Pat Carroll.

Botsford also forayed broadly into the realm of Science Fiction in a variety of ways. As a science fiction writer, he wrote "The Needle of Space", published in a collection of short stories entitled "Blue Book" in 1950. He co-authored the highly acclaimed 'Star Trek: Next Generation' episode "Rascals". Botsford was friend and colleague to many giants in science fiction publishing including Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert and Arthur C. Clarke - all of whom have dedicated various fiction works to him. Botsford's recording work included numerous science fiction classics such as Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" narrated by William Shatner (Captain Kirk of Star Trek), Ray Bradbury's "The Martin Chronicles" narrated by Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock of Star Trek) as well as "2010" and "2061" with the author, Arthur C. Clarke.

Botsford's interest in space travel was not all fictionally based. He collaborated with NASA in the sixties, recording the Mercury and Gemini flights for historical archives including the Friendship 7 mission flown by John Glenn. He was an honorary member of the Royal Order of Star-Riders, having flown in the U.S. Air Force's highest performing fighter in 1960 which then had the world's speed record of 1404 mph and altitude record of 91,243 feet. Botsford flew with a variety of NASA's celebrated astronauts including Neil Armstrong and Gordon Cooper. Botsford was also a founding member of several organizations that supported space science.

Botsford authored several books including "Archeology - Middle America", which received 22 printings, and "The Pirates of Penzance", a children's adaptation of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta for Random House. Botsford was considered an expert on Gilbert & Sullivan, serving as a consultant to Isaac Asimov's "Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan" published in 1988. Asimov dedicated the volume to Botsford, praising his expertise.

Ward Botsford also made considerable contributions to the world of children through copious recordings of favorite authors such as the complete Winnie the Pooh with Carol Channing, the Nutcracker with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas with narration by Christopher Plummer. He recorded a variety of albums with famous folk singer Oscar Brand that were directed for children. Botsford recorded many of Maurice Sendak's books as well including Where the Wild Things Are and Outside Over there. He also recorded the Broadway musical version of "Really Rosie" lyrics by Sendak with music by Carol King. Botsford produced hundreds of albums specifically for the children's market.

For Microsoft Network, he handled the Classical Music Forum for five years. Upon MSN's ending their content driven websites, Botsford opened ClassicalMusicGuide.com, a site that still sees thousands of visitors per month.

He is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Lynn Botsford, as well as his daughters Diana Botsford and Andrea Botsford Castellano. Four grandchildren will also carry his memory forward: Ariana Botsford, Ashlee Castellano, Anthony Castellano and Michael Castellano.

The world will miss his great love of experiencing life at its fullest and his constant pursuit of knowledge.