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Jeff is a public radio veteran with more than 25 years behind the microphone. He's hosted everything from jazz to folk to progressive rock. Jeff is a hobbyist musician and minor-league collector of musical instruments from around the world. He has a long-time interest in the classical music of Northern India and plays banjo, fiddle and bad guitar in an old-time square-dance band.

With more than two decades in radio, Ward's career has included stints as a morning show host, sportscaster and interview program host. He is also a past winner of the prestigious Marconi Award. Ward's love of classical music stems from a childhood influenced by his bass-baritone father and piano-teaching mother. While still a college student in Nebraska, he began singing with the Abendmusik Chorus and took part in concert tours to venues as varied as England's Lincoln Cathedral, the Vatican, Salzburg Cathedral, Auschwitz and Moscow. When not singing, he works to develop his guitar-strumming repertoire.

Valerie has been a classical music host at stations in Arizona and Minnesota. She holds a degree in cello performance and plays piano in self-defense, but feels most at home in front of a microphone - as your companion for an evening of classical music, or singing classic tunes in a club.

Mindy began her career in public broadcasting following her graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working first for the local public television station and then for Wisconsin Public Radio. She then moved on to stations in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Minnesota. In 1998 and '99, she took a leave of absence to work as a music host and producer for China Radio International in Beijing. Her spare time is devoted to international travel; folk, ballroom and contradancing; her two cats; and trying to stay ahead of the weeds in her garden.

Elena started her radio career in Minnesota in 2001, working as part of the production team for Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. She then decided it was time to put her clarinet-ing skills to work and so began performing in local orchestras and working as a classical music host in Maine. Eventually, she headed south to Washington, DC for several years to try out satellite radio with Sirius XM. When she's not on the WNIU airwaves, Elena is usually spending time with a great book, her family (which includes a couple of enormous dogs), or her guitar.

Melissa stumbled into a career in broadcasting many years ago when she moved to Wichita, Kansas to be near her soon-to-be husband. The attraction (to radio work, that is) was immediate, and the chance to be around great music without having to practice piano was irresistible. After establishing herself as a host and producer in Kansas, Melissa moved to Minnesota and continued her work in St. Paul. Her morning classical show was twice named "Best Classical Radio Program" by the Twin Cities paper City Pages. When she's away from the airwaves, Melissa loves to run, read, and spend time with her family.

Suzanne Bona is the creator and host of Sunday Baroque. She's been hosting classical music in a variety of capacities since 1987. In addition to being a classically-trained flutist, Suzanne is an avid reader, jogger, culinary explorer, and cat lover.

Rachel Ward joined NPR's Morning Edition in 2012. She works as a producer and coordinates coverage across shifts. She previously served as the founding editor of the Innovation Trail, a collaborative reporting project on the economy of upstate New York. Ward has covered business and the economy for WXXI in Rochester, N.Y., and has hosted broadcasts at WXXI, WOUB in Athens, Ohio, and WRUW in Cleveland, Ohio. She has an M.A. from Ohio University's Scripps College of Communication.