For nearly three decades, classical music fans across New York have started their mornings with the voice of Jeff Spurgeon.

Spurgeon, the longest-tenured host at New York Public Radio’s WQXR, is retiring at the end of the month after 40 years on New York-area airwaves and nearly 50 years in broadcasting.

His radio career began as a teenager in his home state of Nebraska, after a chance encounter at church led to his first audition at a local radio station.

“I was doing announcements in church, and there was a guy in the congregation who had started a radio station in my hometown, and he said to the minister after the service, that kid ought to come out and audition, I was 16,17. And so I did, I went out and began to work at the radio station, never really went back to church but I did find a career,” Spurgeon said.

Spurgeon said his career was initially delayed by a slight lisp, which he corrected through speech therapy. He moved to New York in 1986 and spent a decade as a pop music disc jockey before joining WQXR in 1996.

“I was a listener when I moved to New York, it was very exciting to work at a radio station that I actually listened to, I got to meet the hosts and learn about the music, it’s been an incredible experience, really, really amazing,” Spurgeon said.

Over the years, Spurgeon has interviewed and met some of the biggest names in classical music. He also takes pride in helping bring classical music to listeners throughout New York and around the world through WQXR.com.

“We’re a hit radio station, so WQXR is going to keep playing the hits, they’re just the hits of the 18th and 19th centuries instead of the 80s and 90s,” Spurgeon said.

Spurgeon currently works from 5:30 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday. In retirement, he says he is looking forward to experiencing the city during the hours he has spent behind the microphone.

“I’m going to see what New York is like at say, I don’t know 7:30 in the morning, I’ve been looking through a window at that scene for many years,” Spurgeon said.

Spurgeon has one final musical reference for his retirement: a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach called “Ich habe genug,” or “I have enough.”

He says the sentiment fits, after decades spent sharing the music he loves with listeners in New York and around the world.