By Pat Tucker
Behind the voice you hear on your drive home, or presenting Diversions in Fine Music or Concert Hall, is a woman with an impressive and varied CV.
Hobart-born Nina Fudala, daughter of an Estonian mother and Polish father, is a former Media and Public Relations Consultant. She counts, among her many achievements, careers with the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, stints with the Department of The Prime Minister and Cabinet and an assortment of roles over more than 20 years with the ABC.
So, volunteering as a presenter with 2MBS was something of a natural progression for this elegant, confident woman. Something else that comes easily is her knowledge of music, acquired as a child in a music-loving home.
Fascinated by everything about the vinyl records she grew up with, although she was not allowed to put the fragile discs on the gramophone herself when she was small, Nina studied covers, learnt about composers and was fortunate to find herself in a school system that encouraged a love of music.
Living, as she did, in a city where music was valued, she enjoyed concerts by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra directed specifically at schools and young adults and, in adulthood, became a regular subscriber to the Symphony.
Guided by what she describes as ‘gifted and inspiring teachers’, the first instrument she played was the recorder, followed by the piano, to which she has recently returned. She also has fond memories of adding her soprano voice to the school choir, competing in eisteddfods.
Elgar’s The Snow, sung in those choir days, retains its magic for Nina, for whom skiing is a passion, as does Bach’s Oh Sacred Head Now Wounded, which takes her back to an upbringing in Lutheran and Protestant churches.
A fellowship in Boston, where she received a Master of Science degree from Boston University, majoring in broadcast journalism, gave her the opportunity to experience performances by some of the world’s leading artists and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted at the time by the legendary Seiji Ozawa.
A graduate in political science and geography from the University of Tasmania, Nina had considered a career in the diplomatic service but an early fascination with a toy tape recorder, given to her as a child, had given her a taste for interviewing and in December 1974 she applied to the ABC for a cadetship and worked her way up the ranks, learning the art of news and current affairs reporting. Strict union rules, however, prevented her from ever laying a finger on a piece of broadcasting equipment.
Early in 2021, encouraged by her husband Andy Rogers, she decided to volunteer at 2MBS – a challenging move, but, as has been the case throughout her career, she found herself supported by mentors and trainers. The challenge was that she not only had to lay her fingers on the equipment, she had to learn its every little detail because once she was flying solo she was alone in the studio, managing the entire broadcast.
While Nina credits her many mentors with her success in the past 50 years, it is no doubt also due to sheer hard work and the perfectionism that is reflected in the hours of research that go into the programmes she presents.
So, as you make your way through the traffic to the soothing sounds of Fine Music Drive spare a thought for the woman in the studio juggling her choice of music, traffic updates, station promotions and advertisements and bringing it all out on time just to entertain you.