When Michelle Rofrano was a girl, she loved listening to classical music and opera with her grandparents. As a teenager, she became fascinated by watching orchestral conductors — so when Rofrano finally stepped in front of an orchestra in college, she knew immediately that conducting was her place in music. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Michelle Rofrano leads the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in a (pre-pandemic) concert performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 1.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
William Grant Still: Radiant Pinnacle
Althea Waites, piano
Album: Black Diamonds: Althea Waites Plays Music by African-American Composers
Cambria 1097
William Grant Still: From the Delta: Suite
Northern Arizona University Wind Symphony; Patricia Hoy, conductor
Album: Northern Arizona University Wind Symphony
SELF PROD 157
Piano Puzzler: Contestant: Claire Nalven from Waltham, MA
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major
Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra; Michelle Rofrano, conductor
Spoleto Festival USA, Dock Street Theater, Charleston SC
Hour 2
John Williams: Schindler's List: Theme
Camille Thomas, cello; Brussels Philharmonic; Mathieu Herzog, conductor
Album: Voice of Hope
DG 4838564
Carl Nielsen: Overture to Maskarade
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic; Osmo Vanska, conductor
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, The Elsie & Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Adam Schoenberg: Never Shall I Forget
iSing Silicon Valley; Jennah Delp Somers and Shane Troll, conductors
Album: Here I Stand
Innova Records 058
Cesar Franck, arr. Jules Delsart: Cello Sonata in A Major, M. 8
Camille Thomas, cello; Roman Rabinovich, piano
Interlochen Presents, Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall, Interlochen, MI
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About Performance Today®
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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Hosted by Valerie Kahler, 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.
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