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.

Gil and Akira met at age 15 here in Aspen and have performed together off and on for 40 years since. Now they are completing their performances of all ten Beethoven Violin/Piano sonatas Tuesday, August 11 at 6:00 pm ast Harris Concert Hall. APR's Chris Mohr caught up with them shortly before their next stage appearance.

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Soprano Erin Morley sing gorgeous duets and solos Tuesday at 7:00 at Harris Hall. Chris talked with Larry as well as their piano collaborator Myra Huang about the challenges and delights of singing these great opera highlights.

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibeaudet played Debussy earlier last week in Aspen, and he showed he can also play the very jazz-infused Piano Concerto in F of Gershwin at Sunday's concert at the Tent. Chris Mohr talks about bridging the two musical worlds.

How did composer Sarah Kirkland Snider first discover Hildegarde von Bingen? She discovered that the Medieval abbess had the same kind of migraines that Sarah suffers from. That became an opportunity for a deep dive into history and women's spirituality, which she talks about extensively in this conversation with Aspen Public Radio's Chris Mohr. Her opera, Hildegarde, gets its world premiere this Friday at 7:00 pm at Harris Hall.

Last Sunday, pianist Daniil Trifonov performed Glazunov's rarely heard Second Piano Concerto. This great Russian composer of the early 20th century was largely ignored, an old-fashioned Romantic in an era of radical musical experimentation. Trifonov chats with Aspen Public Radio's Chris Mohr about this neglected composer.

Violinist Augustin Hadelich played a Stradivarius for years, and now plays a del Jesu, which he says has a more even tone. It certainly shined in his recent performance of the greatest American violin concerto ever composed, by Samuel Barber in 1939. APR Sunday live broadcast host Chris Mohr talks with him about his new violin, and the uniquely beautiful violin concerto of America's own Samuel Barber.

We are used to countertenor voices in the world of pop music, like Michael Jackson, Prince and Freddie Mercury in their highest registers. Classically trained countertenors singing with powerful falsettos are popular now, and Anthony Roth Costanzo is one of the greatest. He talks with APR's Chris Mohr about his voice, and his role in Britten's Opera A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Conductor Jane Glover was a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl when Benjamin Britten invited her to participate in his summer festival. She has conducted his operas many times, and on July 20 and 22, she conducts Brittren's magical work, A Midsummer Night's Dream. APR host Chris Mohr caught up with her to talk about this opera.

In a chat with Chris Mohr at Aspen Public Radio, conductor Rafael Payare talks about his work with the San Diego Symphony, the challenges of conducting an orchestra for the first time, and the joy of conducting great music with his wife Alisa Weilerstein soloing as cellist. He conducted the Aspen Festival Orchestra July 12 with Alisa performing the Dvorak cello concerto.