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Aspen Music Festival and School
Founded in 1949, the Aspen Music Festival and School is regarded as one of the top classical music festivals in the United States, noted both for its concert programming and its musical training of mostly young adult music students. The eight-week summer season includes hundreds of classical music events: concerts by four orchestras, recitals, chamber music, operas, classes, lectures, and family programs. In the winter, the AMFS presents recitals and robust music education programs for local youth and families, and in the summer the Aspen Music Festival and School host High Notes, lunchtime discussions featuring prominent performers, composers, and musicologists in lively discussions with AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher. Learn more at: aspenmusicfestival.com.

Mohr interviews Conrad Tao during the 2025 Aspen Music Festival

Aspen Public Radio | By Chris Mohr
Published July 9, 2025 at 5:17 PM MDT
Conrad Tao at piano and 53-note-to-the-octave keyboard
Conrad Tao at piano and 53-note-to-the-octave keyboard

Pianist and composer Conrad Tao opened the 2025 season of the Aspen Music Festival with a Rachmaninoff-themed recital, which also featured jazz and pop songs inspired by the Russian-born American composer. In this interview, Conrad talks about why he chose to focus on Rachmaninoff and his profound influence on American music.
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.
See stories by Chris Mohr