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

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

PT Weekend: Barber's 'Adagio' Quartet

PT Weekend: Barber's 'Adagio' Quartet

We often hear Samuel Barber's Adagio as a standalone piece for string orchestra, but it began as the slow movement of a string quartet. Alone, the Adagio feels so simple, so profound, and somehow much more poignant in the context of the entire quartet. Hear the Viano String Quartet perform Barber's Adagio at a concert presented by Music@Menlo in Menlo Park, California.

1:59:00
Rebecca Clarke: Dumka

Rebecca Clarke: Dumka

In Ukrainian, the word "dumka" means "thought" or “notion." In music, a dumka is a somewhat dreamlike dance that often revisits a bittersweet reflection on the sadness of life. Today, we’ll hear English composer Rebecca Clarke’s ‘Dumka,’ from a concert presented by the Fabian Concert Series in Macon, Georgia.

1:59:00
Nina Bernat

Nina Bernat

Today, we’re featuring one of our 2025 Young Artists in Residence: double-bassist Nina Bernat. In today's show, Nina joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our studio in Saint Paul.

1:59:00
Geneva and Nathan Lewis

Geneva and Nathan Lewis

As talented young kids, siblings Geneva Lewis and Nathan Lewis were part of a successful family trio. They’re all grown up now, each at the top of their careers, and they still find time to make music together. In today’s episode, Geneva and Nathan Lewis perform a duet by Edward Elgar at a concert in Athens, Georgia.

1:59:00
Florence Price: Symphony No. 3

Florence Price: Symphony No. 3

In 1940, Eleanor Roosevelt was introduced to Symphony No. 3 by African American composer Florence Price; the First Lady loved it and praised it enthusiastically in her daily newspaper column. On today’s show, we’ll take you to a recent concert in St. Louis for a performance of Price’s Symphony No. 3.

1:59:00
Franz Liszt's fascination with mortality

Franz Liszt's fascination with mortality

When composer and pianist Franz Liszt was a young man, he was fascinated with death. He went to hospitals to observe people who were sick or dying. He went to prisons to meet people who had been condemned to die. On today’s show, we’ll hear Franz Liszt’s Totentanz, The Dance of Death, a piece based on the Dies Irae, a chant from the Catholic Mass for the Dead.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: The outsider

PT Weekend: The outsider

Invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, the saxophone has long been seen as an outsider in classical music. But Timothy McAllister is on a mission to change that. On today’s show, Timothy McAllister performs a saxophone classic: Alexander Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto.

1:59:00
Henriëtte Bosmans

Henriëtte Bosmans

On today's show, we explore music by Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans. Join us at a concert in Wismar, Germany, to hear a performance of Bosmans's String Quartet, a piece from a time when in-home concerts were a matter of necessity for artists whose work had to be kept undercover.

1:59:00
Sibelius' final symphony

Sibelius' final symphony

The final symphony by Jean Sibelius unfolds over twenty-one minutes, evolving from a quiet opening to a warm, life-affirming ending—it's one unbroken weightless stream. Join us at a concert in Zurich for the Symphony No. 7 by Jean Sibelius.

1:59:00
Photos: Scenes from MPR Day at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Performance Today®

To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.

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.

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.

How do I leave a comment?

Send us a comment here.

About Performance Today®
YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00