Classical music station WQXR-FM has announced a two-year, $700,000 gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the largest grant yet to the $15 million capital campaign launched in July to support the station's acquisition by WNYC Radio.

The grant will enable the station and its contemporary classical music stream, Q2, to develop and expand their programming and audience through live concert broadcasts and new partnerships with key cultural institutions such as the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center. In turn, the partnerships will provide the station with an opportunity to work directly with artists, conductors, directors, and other leading classical organizations, whether as special guests, hosts, or program contributors.

WQXR plans to present between seventy and ninety live concert broadcasts each year featuring artists and repertory of relevance to New York. At least fifty of the broadcasts will air on WQXR and as many as thirty will stream on Q2, which boasts a younger, more diverse audience than that of WQXR.