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Aspen Public Radio welcomes producer James Barrs to team

Courtesy James Barrs

Aspen Public Radio is honored to welcome James Barrs as community engagement producer, a newly-created position responsible for recording and producing audio in the studios, at live events, and in the field. Barrs began his role with the station earlier this month.

Originally hailing from St. Louis, Barrs graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. with degrees in music and English literature. Prior to joining the Aspen Public Radio team, he was general manager of Northwestern’s student-run music station, WNUR 89.3FM, which reaches nearly three million listeners in the Chicagoland area. During his time with WNUR, Barrs also produced major events, including the Transference Festival and Sonic Celluloid. Additionally, he engineered recordings for bands, classical musicians, and more as part of a six-month internship at the renowned Gravity Studios in Chicago.

As Aspen Public Radio’s community engagement producer, Barrs will manage the station’s Sonic ID Initiative, a project started in 2022 to document and archive the diverse sound heritage of our mountain communities. Additional responsibilities include the production of station promos, daily program promos, fundraising spots and testimonials, station imaging campaigns, and legal IDs, as well as serving as a live sound engineer for events and broadcasts.

"I'm new to living in the Valley, having visited a few years back to hike the Four Pass Loop,” says Barrs. “I'm excited to get to know the community here and spend more time exploring the beautiful environment. Managing the new Sonic ID Initiative will give me the opportunity to engage with the diverse sounds of the community and the natural environment. I’m looking forward to learning and growing with the incredible team at Aspen Public Radio.”

“James is such a competent and technically-adept addition to our team, and having him here effectively allows us to better serve our community,” says Aspen Public Radio executive director Breeze Richardson. “Thanks to him, we can not only continue to build out our Sonic ID library, but also continue to increase our capacity to record beloved Valley-wide lectures, panel discussions, interviews, and events for broadcast on the air and on our website. This is a really exciting time for us, and I couldn’t be happier to watch James grow into this role.”

Outside of the office, Barrs enjoys writing and recording music, reading, backpacking, and rock climbing.

You can listen to select lectures and speakers from area events and conferences, including the Aspen Ideas Festival, Wilderness Workshop, Hurst Community Initiative, Aspen Words, Aspen Music Festival and School, Aspen Center for Physics, Equity Speaker Series, and Anderson Ranch Arts Center on our website, aspenpublicradio.org.