Poster Fred Child and Bruce Adolphe
Fred Child & Bruce Adolphe
Photo: Jon Gohman
Performance Today®

Puzzling!

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game: the Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer, and we get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with the PT Piano Puzzler!

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Samuel Barber: Cello Sonata: Movement 2
Clancy Newman, cello | Natalie Zhu, piano
Album: From Method to Madness
Albany

Robert Paterson: Triple Concerto, "Summit" (World Premiere)
Anna Williams, violin | Mikhail Veselov, cello | Eri Nakamura, piano | Mostly Modern Orchestra featuring the Neave Trio | JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Mostly Modern Festival, Arthur Zankel Music Center, Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall, Saratoga Springs, NY

Piano Puzzler
Contestant: Sara Tillotson calling from Tulsa, OK

Will Hermanowski: Dance Adjacent for Flute, Violin, Viola and Cello
Catherine Gregory, flute | Eunice Kim, violin | David Samuel, viola | Mihai Marica, cello
Emerging Composers Intensive, Walden Theater, Carmel Valley, CA

Hour 2

Enrique Soro: Fantastic Dance
Norwegian Radio Orchestra | Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Album: Inca Trail Connections
Naxos 574266

Leos Janacek: String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata"
Bob Anemone, violin | Rachel Ostler, violin | Madeline Sharp, viola | Brad Ritchie, cello
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Pre-Concert Chamber Music Series, Symphony Hall, Atlanta, GA

Frederic Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 Op. 39 in C-sharp minor
Yekwon Sunwoo, piano
Close Encounters with Music, Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, MA

Zoltan Kodaly: Dances of Galanta
Grand Teton Festival Orchestra | Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Grand Teton Music Festival, Walk Festival Hall, Jackson Hole, WY

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

PT Weekend: The Piano Puzzler

PT Weekend: The Piano Puzzler

So, what is a Piano Puzzler? Well, it's a familiar tune that Bruce Adolphe has re-written in the style of a classical composer. See if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Join us for this week’s Piano Puzzler. Plus, as part of our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we'll hear music by Argentine composers Lalo Schifrin and Maximo Diego Pujol.

1:59:00
Gabriela Montero's 'Latin Concerto'

Gabriela Montero's 'Latin Concerto'

In 2016, pianist and composer Gabriela Montero wrote a concerto reflecting how people perceive Latin America. She says it's not an overtly political piece, but it does express the light and dark sides of the subject. Today, we'll hear Gabriela Montero play her “Latin Concerto” with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm.

1:59:00
As if waking from a dream

As if waking from a dream

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 differs from many of his other concertos. It doesn't try to please us right away; it begins with a feeling of uncertainty and tension. The tension is resolved when the piano comes in two minutes later, and the music becomes very pleasing. Pianist Joyce Yang says the moment feels like waking suddenly from a dream. On today's show, we'll hear Joyce Yang play the concerto with the Aspen Chamber Symphony, led by conductor Jane Glover.

1:59:00
Puzzling!

Puzzling!

So, what is a Piano Puzzler? Well, it's a familiar tune that Bruce Adolphe has re-written in the style of a classical composer. See if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Join us for this week’s Piano Puzzler. Plus, as part of our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we'll hear music by Argentine composers Lalo Schifrin and Maximo Diego Pujol.

1:59:00
Sabine Meyer plays Mozart

Sabine Meyer plays Mozart

When Sabine Meyer plays Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, she insists on using the kind of clarinet Mozart had in mind: a basset clarinet, a clarinet that has an extra four low notes. And Mozart uses those extra notes, of course. Sabine Meyer plays Mozart's Clarinet Concerto on today's show.

1:59:00
Kwame Ryan

Kwame Ryan

In 1980, a young aspiring conductor watched a videotape of the New York Philharmonic, and he wore the tape out as he dreamed of his future. Kwame Ryan is now in his first season as Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. On today’s show, we’ll hear them play Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 at a concert in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: Daniel Dastoor

PT Weekend: Daniel Dastoor

Meet violinist Daniel Dastoor, our next 2024 PT Young Artists in Residence. On today's show, Daniel joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our Saint Paul studio.

1:59:00
Mimi Stillman plays Zhou Tian's Concerto for Flute

Mimi Stillman plays Zhou Tian's Concerto for Flute

Composer Zhou Tian recently wrote a new concerto for his longtime friend and collaborator, flutist Mimi Stillman. On today's episode, Stillman joins Fred Child to give a detailed look behind the scenes of the collaborative process and share her favorite moments of this unique work. We'll experience the beauty of the new Concerto for Flute by Zhou Tian, in a world premiere recording by flutist Mimi Stillman and the United States Marine Chamber Orchestra. 

1:59:00
Maddalena Lombardini

Maddalena Lombardini

Maddalena Lombardini had a great career as a violinist and composer in the 18th century. She was the soloist at the 1771 premiere of her own Violin Concerto in London. On today’s show, we'll hear Lombardini’s Violin Concerto from a recent concert at the Kurt Weill Festival in Germany.

1:59:00
Meet Daniel Dastoor

Meet Daniel Dastoor

Meet violinist Daniel Dastoor, our next 2024 PT Young Artists in Residence. On today's show, Daniel joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our Saint Paul studio.

1:59:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

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.

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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