Performance

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.

Composer Osvaldo Golijov says that when you learn of the loss of a loved one, there's a brief moment before the grief hits — that instant that will always serve as a marker between when you didn't know...and when you did. On today's episode, hear music of loss and longing: Mariel by Osvaldo Golijov.

Paul Burgett was a leader in classical music. He was known for his warm spirit and as a visionary behind the Gateways Music Festival, an event celebrating classical musicians of African descent. On today's show, join us as we remember the late great Paul Burgett, as well as a concert highlight from the Gateways Music Festival.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor wrote his Nonet in London in 1893, when he was only 18 years old. On today's show, hear this remarkable work — a piece that deserves to be played and heard so much more. Also, hear Grieg's Holberg Suite performed at a recent concert in Taiwan.

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.

It's one of most emotionally moving and relevant pieces of the 21st century. On today's show, hear Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson, performed by the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Morehouse College Glee Club, and the Florida A&M University Concert Choir.

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.

It's one of most emotionally moving and relevant pieces of the 21st century. On today's show, hear Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson, performed by the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Morehouse College Glee Club, and the Florida A&M University Concert Choir.

Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia had a tyrannical father who punished her for playing music. Her life didn't get any easier when her father died, but music remained her secret source of comfort. On today's show, hear the Flute Sonata in F Major by Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia.

In printing and publishing, a watermark is a faint design in paper that's used to identify the time and place the paper came from. Composer Caroline Shaw had a poetic version of that idea and composed a piece that references a Beethoven piano concerto. On today's show, hear Jonathan Biss and the Saint Paul Chamber orchestra play Watermark, by Caroline Shaw.