John Cage and Merce Cunningham discuss their collaborations of choreography and music. They discuss their influences and careers. Includes a clip of an earlier interview with John Cage.

Studs Terkel and Tcherepnin discuss Tcherepnin's early years in Leningrad, his creative drive and its relation to real-life experiences and the influence of Chicago on his 1953 Op. 87 Suite for Orchestra.

Discussing the techniques, philosophy, histories, and instruments of classical Indian music with Ravi Shankar. Includes Ravi Shankar playing the sitar, tambura, and tabla among other instruments.

Studs Terkel interviews composer Ned Rorem. They discuss Rorem's childhood, music, poetry, languages, and religion.

Joel Sachs discusses Russian avant-garde music and Soviet Union artists.

Studs interviews Alan Stone, Steven Larson, and Judith Erickson about the opera, "Regina," playing at the Chicago Opera Theater. They describe the variety of music and dances in the opera. Stone, Larson, and Erickson name the cast and their roles and describe the characters. Each share how they came to be in theater. Stone explains how the company started. Larson describes the orchestra and the chorus. Erickson reads some of the lyrics of the aria, "The Best Thing of All," at the end of act one. Stone, Larson, and Erickson read various lines from the opera.

Studs interviews Rita Streich, and they discuss the meaning of some of her operas and lieds. Streich names Erna Berger and Maria Ivogun as her best teachers, and she speaks a little about her family. Studs and Streich read part of the poem, "The Nut Tree" by Robert Schuman. Streich reads a part of "Brahms Lullaby" and "Shepherd On the Rock" by Franz Schubert. She also discusses the difference between opera in her day compared to opera at the time of the interview. The musical pieces are removed from this edited version of the original recording.

Studs interview with Alexander Tcherepnin about his compositions for opera and a variety of instrumentals. Tcherepnin shares his childhood in Saint Petersburg born into a family with a rich musical background. He also shares his opinion about how Hitler affected the opera in Europe. This edited version does not include the musical recordings played in the original version.

Studs interview with Virgil Thomson about his career as a music composer. Thomson shares his work with Gertrude Stein in operas "Mother of Us All" and "Four Saints In Three Acts." He discusses his preference for black artists. Thomson describes his work in documentary films such as "Plow That Broke the Plains." He also shares information about the cajun music "Squeeze Box" in the film "Louisiana Story." This edited version does not include the music pieces.

Self-taught composer Maurice Weddington talks about his music career from his early years when he was raised on the West Side of Chicago to his performances around Western Europe.