Poster ROCO (River Oaks Chamber Orchestra)
ROCO (River Oaks Chamber Orchestra), Houston, TX
www.roco.org, photograph by Jeff Grass
Performance Today®

ROCOmotive

Composer Jim Stephenson grew up watching his father build model trains. They were detailed, realistic models, and each train car had its personality. He was inspired by those vintage model trains when he wrote a piece for the ensemble ROCO. On today's show, hear ROCOmotive, by Jim Stephenson, from a ROCO concert in Houston, Texas.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Nino Rota: Clarinet Trio Movement 3
Ensemble Nino Rota: Paolo Beltramini, clarinet | Cecilia Radic, cello | Massimo Palumbo, piano
Album: Rota: Chamber Music
Chandos 9832

Darius Milhaud: Violin Sonata, Op. 257
Cecilia Berkovich, violin | Miguel Ituarte, harpsichord
Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, Spain

Piano Puzzler
Contestant: Brent Sverdloff from Rhinebeck, NY

Nino Rota: Harp Concerto
Shi Qin, harp | National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra | Zhang Yi, conductor
National Centre for the Performing Arts Concert Hall, Beijing, China

Hour 2

Richard Strauss: Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra | Eivind Aadland, conductor
Album: Storyteller
EMI 88328

Jim Stephenson: ROCOmotive
ROCO | Brett Mitchell, conductor
ROCO, St. John the Divine Church, Houston, TX

Richard Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic | Ward Stare, conductor
National Orchestral Institute + Festival, Dekelboum Concert Hall at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park MD

August Wilhelmj: Paraphrase on the Walther's Prize Song, from Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, by Richard Wagner
Zlatomir Fung, cello | Dina Vainshtein, piano
Friends of Chamber Music (Bryan Texas), Virtual Event

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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.

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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