Poster Composer Shawn E. Okpebholo
Composer Shawn E. Okpebholo
Photo courtesy of the artist
Performance Today®

Shawn Okpebholo

As a young man, composer Shawn Okpebholo firmly believed he would someday write music for the Imani Winds. Twenty years later, that wish has come true with a new piece. It's music inspired by justice, hope, and a desire for harmony. The Imani Winds play Rise by Shawn Okpebholo on today’s show.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Camille Saint-Saens: Clarinet Sonata in E flat major: Mvt 1 Allegretto
Sabine Meyer, clarinet | Oleg Maisenberg, piano
Album: Devienne: Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in C Major
Warner Classics 3797872

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492: Overture
ROCO | Delyana Lazarova, conductor
ROCO, St. John the Divine Church, Houston, TX

Camille Saint-Saens: Septet in E-flat major, Op. 65
David Washburn, trumpet | Benjamin Beilman, violin | Lun Li, violin | Paul Neubauer, viola | Sterling Elliott, cello | Nina Bernat, bass | Wu Han, piano
Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute, Spieker Center for the Arts, Menlo Park, CA

Amy Beach: Theme & Variations for flute and string quartet, Op. 80
Linda Chesis, flute | Borromeo String Quartet
Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, The Farmers Museum, Cooperstown, NY

Hour 2

Robert Schumann, arr. Franz Liszt: Widmung, S. 566
Beatrice Rana, piano
Album: Clara and Robert Schumann: Piano Concertos
Warner Classics 5054197296253

Pablo Ziegler: Blues Porteno
Pablo Ziegler Trio
Beaches Fine Arts Series, St. Paul's By The Sea Church, Jacksonville Beach, FL

Shawn E. Okpebholo: Rise
Imani Winds
Chamber Music Northwest, Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, OR

Clara Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7
Beatrice Rana, piano | Lucerne Festival Orchestra | Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
EBU, Lucerne Festival, Concert Hall KKL, Lucerne, Switzerland

Felix Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Book 6, Op. 67, Mvt 4 Presto: Spinnerlied
Beatrice Rana, piano
EBU, Lucerne Festival, Concert Hall KKL, Lucerne, Switzerland

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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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