Dirk Venter
Dirk Venter is the presenter of “The Classical Carousel” every Saturday
afternoon from 14:00 to 17:00. This programme has been running ever since Fine Music Radio 101.3 took to the airwaves on the 1st of July 1995. Roy Banks was the first presenter of The Classical Carousel, and Dirk took over from Roy when he moved to Johannesburg to start a new business. This is a popular weekend programme, offering a wide variety of music that covers the whole range – Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern.
Dirk Venter has cultivated a love for radio ever since his childhood years. As a young schoolboy in the 1960′s, years before the advent of FM radio and television in South Africa, he became an ardent radio listener tuning in to local radio stations on medium wave and overseas radio on short wave. Among his favourite radio stations in those days were the BBC and the now defunct Springbok Radio, South Africa’s first ever commercial radio station. Dirk always aspired to become a radio announcer ever since he can remember.
After spending three years overseas, where he obtained a Master’s degree in history at the Greater University of London, he returned to South Africa to start a short career in journalism and public relations. His great passion for radio never faltered, though, and in 1982 he joined the SABC as a full-time radio presenter and producer. He presented and produced a wide variety of programmes, ranging from music, drama and the arts to news and current affairs. He was also a freelance television interviewer for a while, contributing to journal and documentary programmes.
Dirk joined Fine Music Radio 101.3 in 2001, and has been a versatile all-rounder on the station from the beginning – reading the news, and presenting varied programmes, such as Classic Breakfast, Matinée, Winding Down, Music Among Friends, Great Interpreters and, recently, Classics By Request. His love of classical music, coupled with his passion for radio, makes him feel particularly at home at Fine Music Radio 101.3.
Dirk runs his own real estate business in the northern suburbs of Cape Town when he is not behind the microphone.
