Poster Celebratory fireworks
Colorful fireworks over water
Unsplash/Ray Hennessey
Performance Today®

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! On today's show, we'll usher in 2025 with Johann Hummel's playful trumpet concerto and a special Piano Puzzler from composer Bruce Adolphe.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

George Gershwin: The Man I Love
Lucienne Renaudin Vary, trumpet | L'Orchestre National de Lille | Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, conductor
Album: The Voice of the Trumpet
Warner Classics 9029588832

Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E major, Mvt. 3: Rondo
Lucienne Renaudin Vary, trumpet | Lucerne Symphony Orchestra | Michael Sanderling, conductor
Album: Trumpet Concertos
Warner Classics 9029633426

Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Piano Quintet in E-flat minor, Op. 87
Stewart Goodyear, piano | Eunice Kim, violin | Caitlin Lynch, viola | Ani Aznavoorian, cello | Susan Cahill, double bass
Festival Mozaic, Harold J. Miossi Cultural & Performing Arts Center, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Piano Puzzler
Nancy Parton and Ron Morebello calling from San Diego, California

Michael Dudley: Prayer for Our Times
Sphinx Virtuosi
Lillian & Robert Utsey Chamber Music Series, Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, Clemson University, Clemson, SC

Hour 2

Josef Strauss: Pansies Polka
Vienna Philharmonic | Riccardo Muti, conductor
Album: New Year's Concert 2004
DG

Johann Strauss Jr.: Wings of the Phoenix Waltz
Vienna Philharmonic | Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Album: New Year's Concert 2022
Sony Classical

Gabriel Faure: Masques et bergamasques, Op. 112
ROCO | Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Cynthia Wood Mitchell Pavilion, Houston, TX

Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77: Movement 1
Christian Tetzlaff, violin | Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin | Robin Ticciati, conductor
Album: Brahms, Berg: Violin Concertos
Ondine

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

PT Weekend: Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto

PT Weekend: Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto

Jazz guitarist Charlie Christian was at his peak in the late 1930s and early 40s. To this day, guitarists are inspired by his recordings, and composer Igor Stravinsky said Charlie Christian helped inspire one of his pieces. We'll hear that piece, Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto, on today's show.

1:59:00
Marin Alsop on an American icon

Marin Alsop on an American icon

When conductor Marin Alsop was a kid, she begged her parents to decorate her bedroom. She says, "I talked them into buying me two posters: one of the Beatles and one of Leonard Bernstein." Join us today to hear some of Marin Alsop's memories of Bernstein and more as we celebrate Independence Day with all-American music.

1:59:00
Jessie Montgomery

Jessie Montgomery

Earlier this year, we announced that Jessie Montgomery is our 2025 PT Classical Woman of the Year. Montgomery is a celebrated composer, violinist, and educator known for compositions that blend classical, folk, jazz, and contemporary influences. Among her numerous accomplishments, she founded the Young Composers Initiative, where she mentors high school composers, assisting them in preparing their music for performance by members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Tune in today to learn more about Jessie Montgomery and why her work is so influential.

1:59:00
Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto

Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto

Jazz guitarist Charlie Christian was at his peak in the late 1930s and early 40s. To this day, guitarists are inspired by his recordings, and composer Igor Stravinsky said Charlie Christian helped inspire one of his pieces. We'll hear that piece, Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto, on today's show.

1:59:00
Clarice Assad: Total Eclipse

Clarice Assad: Total Eclipse

Last year, a total solar eclipse was visible in parts of our country. The shared experience of an eclipse—an extraordinary moment of wonder and awe—inspired composer and pianist Clarice Assad to create a new piece for piano and orchestra. Join us today for a musical exploration of light and darkness: "Total Eclipse" by Clarice Assad.

1:59:00
Considering Matthew Shepard

Considering Matthew Shepard

In 2016, Craig Hella Johnson wrote an oratorio about Matthew Shepard, a young gay man from Wyoming who was murdered in a hate crime in 1998. The oratorio urges all of us to find our shared humanity—the threads that connect us—to see if love can be found even in the darkest moments. Tune in today for "Considering Matthew Shepard" by Craig Hella Johnson.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: Optimism in dark times

PT Weekend: Optimism in dark times

In 1944, during the height of World War II, Sergei Prokofiev composed a piece intended “…to sing the praises of the free and happy man.” It’s an optimistic work created during a time of darkness. On today's show, we'll hear the opening movement of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 performed by the National Orchestral Institute (NOI) Philharmonic and conductor Joseph Young at a concert in College Park, Maryland.

1:59:00
Yuja Wang and the Vienna Philharmonic in Paris

Yuja Wang and the Vienna Philharmonic in Paris

It was arguably the biggest classical music event of 2025: a gala concert in Paris celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Opera Garnier venue. We'll take you there to hear the Vienna Philharmonic and pianist Yuja Wang perform the opening movement of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.

1:59:00
Malek Jandali

Malek Jandali

The Syrian Civil War has devastated more than lives, homes, and communities. With all that has been lost, Syrian-American composer Malek Jandali feels an imperative to preserve and share traditional Syrian music. On today's show, we'll hear a piece full of traditional Syrian styles and themes: the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra by Malek Jandali.

1:59:00
Prokofiev's optimism in a dark time

Prokofiev's optimism in a dark time

In 1944, during the height of World War II, Sergei Prokofiev composed a piece intended “…to sing the praises of the free and happy man.” It’s an optimistic work created during a time of darkness. On today's show, we'll hear the opening movement of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 performed by the National Orchestral Institute (NOI) Philharmonic and conductor Joseph Young at a concert in College Park, Maryland.

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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