Poster Portrait of a man smiling
James Baldwin, writer and civil rights activist
Allan Warren / Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

James Baldwin and the power of music

The great American writer James Baldwin was born 100 years ago. Baldwin's writing, and even much of his life, was connected to music. He once wrote, "Life comes out of music, and music comes out of life: without trusting the first, it is impossible to create the second." Join us today for a tribute to James Baldwin and what it means to be an artist and human being.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Billie Holiday/Arthur Herzog: Don't Explain
Leyla McCalla, soprano | Lara Downes, piano
Album: Holes in the Sky
Sony 92079

Wynton Marsalis: Trumpet Concerto: Mvts. 2, 4, 5, 6
Alison Balsom, trumpet | Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra | Christian Macelaru, conductor
EBU, Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden

Joel Thompson: My People
Lawrence Brownlee, tenor | Kevin J. Miller, piano
Album: Rising
Warner 57842

Duke Ellington: Come Sunday
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra | Michael Brockman, conductor
Album: Sacred Music Of Duke Ellington
Origin 82456

Jeff Scott: Passion for Bach and Coltrane: Variation 13
Imani Winds | Harlem Quartet | Alex Brown, piano | Edward Perez, bass | Neal Smith, drums
Album: Passion for Bach and Coltrane
Imani Winds

Billie Holiday/Arthur Herzog, arr. Jed Distler: God Bless the Child
Lara Downes, piano
Album: A Billie Holiday Songbook
Steinway & Sons 30026

Sam Cooke, arr. Jeremy Siskind: A Change Is Gonna Come
Lara Downes, piano
Brevard Music Center, Parker Concert Hall,  Brevard, NC

Hour 2

Franz Danzi: Sinfonia Concertante in B-Flat Major, Op. 41, P. 226 Movement 2 Largo
Anthony McGill clarinet | Demarre McGill, flute | Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra | Allen Tinkham, conductor
Album: Winged Creatures
Cedille

Maurice Ravel: Introduction and Allegro, M. 46
Nancy Allen, harp | Jennifer Frautschi, violin | Oliver Neubauer, violin | Nicholas Cords, viola | Fred Sherry, cello | Ransom Wilson, flute | David Shifrin, clarinet
Chamber Music Northwest, Kaul Auditorium, Reed College, Portland, OR

Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Eric Crees: Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
WDR Symphony Orchestra Brass Section | Eric Crees, conductor
EBU, Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany

Samuel Barber: Mutations from Bach
WDR Symphony Orchestra Brass Section | Eric Crees, conductor
EBU, Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany

Michael Abels: Winged Creatures
Anthony McGill, clarinet | Demarre McGill, flute | Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra | Allen Tinkham, conductor
Album: Winged Creatures
Cedille 187

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

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Meet Emad Zolfaghari

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For Emad Zolfaghari, a viola bow is more than just a tool. He says, "You have to play by feel... so I think bows are much more personal than instruments." On today's program, PT Young Artist in Residence violist Emad Zolfaghari shares his thoughts on bows, music, and life.

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Lara Downes

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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.

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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