LEWISTON — Maine Public announces the retirements of Sara Willis, host of Maine Public’s In Tune series, and Robin Rilette, host of Morning Classical and Maine Public’s Director of Music and Creative Performance. Maine Public recently completed initiating a voluntary retirement program and, in addition to these on-air staff, several internal staff also took the opportunity to transition to retirement.
Willis is the long-time host and producer of In Tune, Maine Public Radio’s music program featuring contemporary singer-songwriters, folk, blues, acoustic rock, jazz, alt country, and world music. In 2018, Maine Public launched the In Tune with Sara Willis audio stream allowing fans of the show 24/7 access to music curated by the host. In Tune programs will continue to be aired on the weekends and over the In Tune stream.
Rilette joined Maine Public from Northwest Public Radio in Washington State. As Maine Public’s Music Director, Rilette was instrumental in helping Maine Public build out its classical radio service and entertained Maine for over 6 years as the host of Morning Classical.
“All our staff who are retiring have made widespread contributions to the organization for many years and will be greatly missed,” stated Mark Vogelzang, Maine Public’s President and CEO. “Sara and Robin are dedicated to public radio and their impact on Maine Public cannot be quantified in any way. Our listeners have grown accustomed to their voices and the content that they curated and created. While we are sad to see them leave, we are excited to see what their next adventures will be!”
As these departures are assessed relative to Maine Public’s broadcast schedule and line-up, much of this programming will continue uninterrupted. Any new programs or schedule changes will be rolled out this Fall and communicated on Maine Public Radio, Maine Public Classical and online at mainepublic.org.
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