What does a performer do when she can’t perform?

For Karen Kevra, she becomes a storyteller.

Kevra is a Grammy-nominated flutist and founder and artistic director of Capital City Concerts in Montpelier. When Covid-19 shuttered performance venues last year, she searched for a new way to connect with her audience. Kevra has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including performances at Carnegie Hall and the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. Last year, she launched a podcast, Muse Mentors, a series of beautifully crafted interviews with artists, activists and thinkers in which she explores the transformative role that mentors have played in their lives.

Kevra credits her own mentor with changing the course of her life. As an adult, Kevra sought out a teacher, Louis Moyse, a renowned flutist, composer and co-founder of the Marlboro Music Festival. Their musical relationship blossomed into a lifelong friendship until Moyse’s death in 2007 at the age of 94.

"There’s a difference between a teacher and a mentor," says Kevra. "A mentor is someone who helps to shape you, who becomes a part of your life and really shows you how to live life."