The Busy Life of an Assistant Conductor in Aspen

Aspen Public Radio | By Chris Mohr

Published August 10, 2026 at 10:05 PM MDT

AMFS Assistant Conductor Ken Yanagisawa conducts a few of his own concerts each season, but he also prepares the orchestras before the headliner conductors come to town, and has to be ready to step in at a moment's notice if a conductor can't make it to the podium due to any kind of emergency. APR's Chris Mohr talks with Ken about his very, very busy schedule.

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Classical Music from Aspen

Chris Mohr

Classical music reporter Chris Mohr has loved classical music since he was twelve. “And I owe it all to radio,” Chris explains. “I grew up in a farm town east of Cleveland. One day I turned on the local classical radio station. They were playing Vivaldi, and it was like the gates of heaven opened up to me!" Chris is also a composer, and is working on a 53-note-to-the-octave oratorio, "Melodies of the Shoreless Sea." This is his 11th summer working for Aspen Public Radio.

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