Pianist Lara Downes joins Haley Taylor for a discussion of her new album, Holes in the Sky - a star-studded collection of female artists which pays tribute to the remarkable women of American music, past, present and future. Photo of Lara Downes by Shervin Lainez

Artistic Director of Ballet Theatre of Toledo Nigel Burgoine joins us to talk about his work with the great Rudolf Nureyev - who is the subject of a new film by Ralph Fiennes called The White Crow. We also hear from the film's composer, Elan Eshkeri.

British film composer Ilan Eshkeri joins us to talk about his third collaboration with actor/director Ralph Feinnes, The White Crow. The film tells the story of famed Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev and his defection to France in 1961. Eshkeri's soundtrack, which features violinist Lisa Batiashvili, is meant to mingle with and compliment the ballet music of Tchaikovsky, which bore an important presence in Nureyev's career.

Mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital and jazz bassist Omer Avital join Haley Taylor for a conversation about their high-powered collaborative album Avital Meets Avital, which brings together their two musical worlds with an emphasis on Middle Eastern folk traditions.

The young, American violist Matthew Lipman joins us to preview his new album Ascent – which features a wide variety of works for viola, including the world premiere recording of a recently unearthed piece by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Legendary conductor, pianist, and Toledo native Dennis Russell Davies joins Brad Cresswell for a wide-ranging discussion about growing up in Toledo, how his career took shape, his championing of new music and living composers and his plans to celebrate his 75th birthday on April 16.

At more than 70 minutes, Ferruccio Busoni's wildly inventive Piano Concerto stands as a holy grail of the repertoire – a tour-de-force of virtuousity and stamina that has rarely been set down on disc. With his latest album, powerhouse pianist Kirill Gerstein adds to the collection his own formidable interpretation, which has been years in the making. Kirill joins us for a conversation about the work, and his long-time fascination with Busoni's music.

Violinist Philippe Quint and pianist Marta Aznavoorian team up (with guest Joshua Bell) for a rich compendium of tunes by the legendary filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, in original arrangements by the composer Charles Colman. Philippe and Marta join us to preview the album and talk about its genesis and the process of bringing it to disc.

One of contemporary music's brightest lights, pianist Sarah Cahill is presenting her provocative program "The Future is Female" at the Detroit Institute of Arts and also at Bowling Green State University. Sarah joins us for a conversation about the program and her longtime championship of music by living composers.

Cellist Hee-Young Lim was (at age 15) the youngest student ever accepted to Korean National University. Afterward, she attended Boston's New England Conservatory and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris. In 2016, at the age of 28, she was appointed Principal Solo Cello of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin – making her one of the first female Asian cellists ever to lead a section in a major European orchestra. Hee-Young Lim joins us to discuss her latest release, a dynamic album of French Cello Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra.