Behind the Scenes of a Live Performance at VPR

Walter Parker hosted not one, but two live classical performances here at Vermont Public Radio studios last Friday - the first by Boston-based ensemble A Far Cry with flutist Karen Kevra, and in the second by cellist Allison Eldredge and pianist Yoshie Akimoto. If you missed them or just want to hear them again, click here to listen online and see photos.

The telltale sign that you're hearing a perfectly engineered live performance is, well...nothing. The listener notices nothing except for seamless, clear, perfectly balanced, beautiful music. But it takes hours of preparation to pull off a live performance (not to mention two in one day!). We think no one does it better than our own Sam Sanders, one of our production engineers.

Prep work starts well in advance of the performance when Sam sets up the performance studio for the guests. Musicians normally arrive at least an hour before the performance to tune up and do a sound check.

Walter and Sam listen from the control room next door to make sure the sound is just right. If anything needs tweaking, Sam works with the musicians to shift their positions so that everything is perfect for air time.

Listen and enjoy!