Performance

There's a long tradition of music inspired by visual art, and that continues right up to this day. On today's show, hear the world premiere performance the Violin Concerto by French composer Pascal Zavaro — music that Zavaro says was written "under the influence" of images by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Violinist Hilary Hahn says that music by Bach is like a magical fun house...he takes you in one particular direction, but when you arrive, you're not where you thought you would be. On today's show, Hilary Hahn ushers us into the magical fun house that is the Violin Concerto in E Major, by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Composer Zhou Tian was inspired by a Chinese proverb, that it takes "a thousand years of good prayers to bring about a good relationship." He wrote music that unfolds into a clear and harmonious song — and it's less than ten centuries long. On this episode of Performance Today, hear A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Zhou Tian, from a recent concert in Melbourne, Australia.

Natalia Koussevitzky was passionate about the arts and music. When she died, her husband, composer and conductor Serge Koussevitzky, established a foundation in her name...and asked a friend to write music in her honor. On today's show, hear Igor Stravinsky's "Ode" to Natalia Koussevitzky, from a recent concert in Berlin.

The Summer Games get underway weekend in Tokyo. Among the changes in the Covid Era, podium winners will place their own medals over their heads, and they'll do it to music by Japanese composer Naoki Satō. On this edition of Performance Today, hear Naoki Satō's music in celebration of the Olympic Games.

The Summer Games get underway weekend in Tokyo. Among the changes in the Covid Era, podium winners will place their own medals over their heads, and they'll do it to music by Japanese composer Naoki Satō. On this edition of Performance Today, hear Naoki Satō's music in celebration of the Olympic Games.

Last year marked Beethoven's 250th birthday, and celebrations have included a lot of new music inspired by his work. On today's show, hear one of those new inspirations: Stride, by Anna Clyne, from a recent concert in Australia.

The rich, deep tone of the bass trombone makes it part of the backbone of a brass section, but it rarely gets a moment in the spotlight. Now, it's time to shine. On today's show, hear a new concerto by Kenneth Fuchs, featuring George Curran on bass trombone.

On this episode of Performance Today, hear Pedja Muzijevic and his friends in the St. Lawrence String Quartet play the Piano Quintet No. 2 by Antonin Dvorak, from a concert at the 2019 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC.

In 1991, Composer Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee wrote a set of bagatelles for an up-and-coming nine-year-old flutist.  Now, those playful pieces have taken on a life of their own. On today's show, hear a recent recording of Five Bagatelles by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee, performed by flutist Suzanne Bona and pianist Greg Kostraba of the Sylvan Trio.