Poster Afghanistan National Institute of Music on plane to Doha
Members of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music on the plane to Doha.
Courtesy
Performance Today®

Keeping dreams alive

This fall, Yo-Yo Ma (and many others) were involved in the effort to evacuate 272 musicians, teachers, and their family members from Afghanistan. They were all affiliated with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM). The story is somberly uplifting. Learn more on today's show, and hear Yo-Yo Ma play music of peace and hope.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Niccolo Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, No. 11 in C Major
Julia Fischer, violin
Album: Julia Fischer: Paganini 24 Caprices
London/Decca 14658

Bernard de la Monnoye, arr. Matt Catingub: Pat-a-Pan
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra | John Morris Russell, conductor
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH

Steven Amundson: Angel's Dance
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra | John Morris Russell, conductor
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH

Pascal Zavaro: Violin Concerto: Movements 2-4
Julia Fischer, violin | Orchestre National de France | Cristian Macelaru, conductor
Auditorium Radio France Broadcasting House, Paris, France

Harold Arlen, arr. Tim Poster: Over the Rainbow
Yo-Yo Ma, cello | Kathryn Stott, piano
Album: Songs of Comfort and Hope
Sony Classical 886448775010

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, arr. Jake Shimabukuro and Robert Thurston: Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Yo-Yo Ma, cello | Jake Shimabukuro, ukulele
Album: Yo-Yo Ma and Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace
Sony 24414

Hour 2

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Laudate Dominum, K. 339
Joshua Bell, violin | Orchestra of St. Luke's | Michael Stern, conductor
Album: Joshua Bell - Voice of the Violin
Sony 97779

Robert Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 121: Mvts. 1 & 2
Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano | Andrew Wan, violin
Festival de Lanaudiere, Eglise Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Barthelemy, Quebec, Canada

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor: Movement 1
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic | Michael Stern, conductor
National Orchestral Institute + Festival, Dekelboum Concert Hall at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka: Divertimento Brillante on themes from Bellini's La sonnambula
James Austin Smith, oboe | Geoff Nuttall and Owen Dalby, violins | Meena Bhasin, viola | Christopher Costanza, cello | Anthony Manzo, double bass
The Bank of America Chamber Music Series, Spoleto Festival USA, Dock Street Theater, Charleston, SC

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

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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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