Martin Workman; Music Center Radio Host

Martin Workman, the longtime host of “Luncheon at the Music Center,” a broadcast that melded music and chitchat into a breezy daily feature heard for years on radio station KFAC, has died.

A daughter, Caprice Walker, said that her father was 71 when he died May 10 at St. John’s Medical Center in Santa Monica after gall bladder surgery.

Workman had been a substitute host for Thomas Cassidy on the popular noontime feature since his arrival at KFAC in 1973. In 1976, Cassidy left the interview show, which first aired in 1965, because of health reasons and to concentrate on his evening concert series. Workman moved into the interviewer’s chair full time.

He described the program as an effort “to give the listeners an insight into the skills of these various artists.”

While Cassidy had concentrated on interviewing primarily musicians, Workman expanded the show--broadcast live from the Music Center amid the distractions of the clanking silver and clinking glasses of nearby diners--to include a wide spectrum.

A professional violinist, actor and singer himself, Workman brought to the show artists from the world of opera, ballet, classical music, operetta and theater.

He spent six hours each day preparing for the one-hour broadcast “because I want to make sure that I know everything there is to know about my guests (and) that I’ve selected music that complements them.”

The program was taken off the air in January, 1987, after the station was sold and longtime staff members were let go.

Workman was born in San Francisco and raised in Pacific Grove. He graduated with a degree in economics and sociology from the University of the Pacific and earned a doctorate degree in psychology from UC Berkeley.

He came to Santa Monica, where he became a choral singer, soloist and actor who helped found the Santa Monica Light Opera Company and the Santa Monica Theatre Guild.

Before joining KFAC he worked for Channels 9 and 13 and hosted an opera program for radio station KUSC.

He also was a judge for the Western regional auditions of the Metropolitan Opera and was on the boards of directors of Mehli Mehta’s American Youth Symphony and the Ballet Society of Los Angeles.

Divorced, he is survived by another daughter, a son, six grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Also surviving is his longtime companion, Eric Olson, and a brother.

The family suggests contributions be made to the American Youth Symphony.