Brian McCreath has entered the part of the year known as his “split life.” The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has opened its summer season at Tanglewood with CRB Classical 99.5’s McCreath as producer. The BSO at Tanglewood is aired locally only on CRB, WGBH’s classical music station, and streamed at classicalwcrb.org.

Every summer since 2014, McCreath has divided his time between Boston and Lenox, Mass., immersing himself in the 8-week, 24-concert stint at one of the most storied outdoor concert venues in the world. He’s the first to say that this all-consuming experience is a “luxury.”

“You find yourself interviewing or featuring on the air these musicians that are impeccable, just gobsmackingly good musicians,” he says.

A BSO concert is a very precise affair, and that goes for the radio broadcast as well. Nothing is left to chance. McCreath spends his workweek painstakingly crafting the shows—gathering audio assets, writing scripts and producing the introductory five-minute opening that begins with a short “billboard.” For each show, he develops about 45 minutes of content to provide background and context for listeners.

“It’s telling a story and, in the best way, trying to get listeners excited to hear the whole thing. You want to tell them, ‘this is going to be so good that you don’t want to leave.’”

Each weekend the BSO performs three shows—Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon.

“I’m doing everything times three,” says McCreath.

He tries to stay a day ahead in his preparation—the next day scripted, mixed, produced, all the assets collected, scripts printed out. “Then I don’t have to think about it at all. That’s ideal. And it almost never happens that way.”

He always needs to be prepared for the unpredictable: traffic delays, lightning, rain, unexpectedly long or short stage transitions. Like the time the BSO did Fancy Free, a fully staged ballet with Boston Ballet by Leonard Bernstein.

“They needed to create a longer intermission than usual to allow the stage to be reset. Knowing that this intermission was going to be a half hour long, I programmed a piece of music that fit very well with the story of the broadcast.”

But unexpectedly, the stage reset took about half the time predicted. Going against his instincts as a radio producer, McCreath faded the music down. During another show, he ended up talking for 13 minutes when a traffic jam delayed the start time.

“I talked about Tanglewood, the history of Tanglewood, the visitors center, stories from the previous season.”

He drives to Tanglewood early Friday morning, beating the traffic and arriving in time for the 10 a.m. rehearsal (for Saturday night’s concert).

It’s usually a music-free drive.

“I’m listening to music all the time as it is. Sometimes it’s not really the thing I want to spend my downtime doing.”

Instead, he listens to podcast interviews. “I learn a lot from those about interviewing.”

Friday night, he heads into Pittsfield to Guido’s Market. “I eat very cheaply. They have a hot bar, and it’s good.”

He stays at the same hotel every year and is very tickled when the staff sends him a Christmas card a few months later signed by everyone.

One of the things he most values about working with the BSO is the organization’s standard of excellence and the sense of shared purpose.

“Everybody there knows that they are working for one of the best orchestras in the world. They bring their best to everything they’re doing. If the musicians are that good, we can be that good too at our jobs.”

McCreath is also inspired by the unspoiled setting of Tanglewood.

“It’s just unbelievably beautiful. You couldn’t imagine being anywhere better. The location is idyllic, a place apart from the world.”

In addition to the 12,000 in attendance at Tanglewood, McCreath’s broadcast makes the concert available across Greater Boston, usually drawing about 15,000 listeners.

By Sunday evening, he’s on his way home.

“The satisfying part is when you feel like you have taken the time you had for broadcast and you’ve used that time well and you’ve managed to pull it off.

“You’re connecting with the musicians and the audience is too. You have the feeling that you’re making what’s happening on the stage mean more to the people who are listening.”

You can get in the mood by listening to this BSO/James Levine recording of Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe” on the BSO Classics label.

Find the details about the CRB Tanglewood schedule here. Tune in on your radio at 99.5, smart speakers or the GBH app as CRB presents the BSO.