Poster Mary Kouyoumdjian, composer
Mary Kouyoumdjian, composer
Photo by Dominica Eriksen
Performance Today®

Music by Mary Kouyoumdjian

There's a photo of a young boy in an abandoned train station in Albania. The boy turns an old water bottle into a toy and he's lost in his world of play, despite the refugee crisis going on around him. On today's show, hear music inspired by that photo, "A Boy with a Makeshift Toy" by Armenian-American composer Mary Kouyoumdjian.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Scot Joplin: Gladiolus Rag
Benjamin Loeb, piano
JOPLIN: Piano Rags, Vol. 2
Naxos NA

Scott Joplin: Solace
Benjamin Loeb, piano
International Conducting Workshop and Festival, Tsarsko Selo, Sofia, Bulgaria

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
Anna Polonsky, piano; Windham Festival Chamber Orchestra; Robert Manno, conductor
Catskill Mountain Foundation, Doctorow Center for the Arts, Hunter, NY

Mary Kouyoumdjian (arr. Elisabeth Remy Johnson): A Boy with a Makeshift Toy
Jessica Oudin, viola; Elisabeth Remy Johnson, Harp
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Pre-Concert Chamber Music Series, Symphony Hall, Atlanta, GA

Hour 2

Jeremy Kittel: The Biting Reel/Lost Time
Jeremy Kittel, violin; Bodek Janke, percussion
Chasing Sparks
Compass Records 45312

Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B flat, D. 485
Houston Symphony; Matthew Halls, conductor
Jones Hall, Houston, TX

Astor Piazzolla: La Muerte del Angel
Viva Tango: Cho-Liang Lin, violin; David Shifrin, clarinet; Hector Del Curto, bandoneon; Alex Brown, piano; Satoshi Takeishi, percussion; Pablo Aslan, bass
Rockport Music, Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA

Jeremy Kittel: Pando
Eunice Kim, violin; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Ordway Concert Hall, Saint Paul, MN

Aaron Copland (arr. Hugh Wolff): Hoe-Down from Rodeo
Teddy Abrams, director and piano; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Ordway Concert Hall, Saint Paul, MN

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Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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