The Classical Source mourns the death of one of its own.

It is with great sadness that I have just heard that the Classical Source’s former deputy editor, Kevin Rogers, has passed away.

I first met Kevin in May 2007. He loved what we were trying to do at the Classical Source, though wasn’t so keen on the design. “More pictures” I remember him saying; and he was right – the site did need a brighter look.

Kevin took on the role of picture editor – manipulating images that were provided by artists and agents so that they were small and fast to load. Nowadays we use technology to provide the right size of picture to the right device, be it a 50-inch monitor or a mobile phone, however in 2007 we were still using imaging software to shrink the number of pixels while at the same time keeping a recognisable picture. It was a time-consuming occupation, but Kevin was happy to do it, and he did it well.

Then in 2011 he told us about this fairly new thing called “Twitter”. I had tried using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) in the past, but it hadn’t really gained much of a following. Kevin was sure that Twitter was the way to go; he set up an account and started Tweeting. Every review of every concert was tweeted; so was every CD review, article and editorial. In fact, everything that happened on the Classical Source was tweeted out to followers – and it still is today. I remember Kevin getting excited about reaching 1,000 followers; now we have over 15,000. Many do not visit the site to look for a new review, they simply wait for the Tweet. The success of the Classical Source’s Twitter feed is entirely due to Kevin’s determination and is one of the many legacies that he has kindly left us.

Kevin started to help with editorial duties. The site was often publishing three or four items daily, so a sub-editor to help Colin Anderson was needed. When Colin went into hospital in 2019, Kevin stepped up, taking on full editorial duties for the brief period up to March 2020 – when we all know what happened to live concerts.

There is so much that I could say about Kevin’s contribution to the Classical Source, however the real fun was had when we went to concerts or met up for lunch – usually at the Shakespeare’s Head in Holborn, London. Kevin’s enthusiasm was infectious – be it for music, the Classical Source or for teaching. No less was his enthusiasm for his partner Philip to whom I cannot express my sorrow enough for his loss.

Kevin was a dear friend to music, to the Classical Source and to everyone that knew him. I shall miss him.

Chris Caspell (Managing Director: www.classicalsource.com)