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