Performance Today®

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game: the Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer, and we get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with the PT Piano Puzzler!

Nathalie Stutzmann had a flourishing career as a contralto (singer) for three decades. When she felt she'd accomplished most of her dreams in that field, she pursued conducting full-time. She is now in her second season as the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony. On today's episode of PT, Nathalie Stutzmann leads the Atlanta Symphony in a performance of J.S. Bach’s Orchestra Suite No. 3.

Yurui "Rain" Hou loves how chamber music is like conversation and how the composer gets to construct the conversation note by note. Hou is 19 years old and a student at Columbia University in New York City, but don't discount her music because of her age. On today's show, we'll hear a piece Rain Hou composed for the Emerging Composers Intensive in Carmel Valley, California.

On this edition of Performance Today, we'll hear the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert at their summer home in Saratoga Springs, New York. Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads a performance of the Prelude to Act One of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music. In 2017, Esmail drew inspiration from the words of Rumi, a 13th-century Sufi poet: "Religions are many, but God is one. The lamps may be different, but the light is the same." On today's episode, we'll take you to a concert at the University of Georgia to hear the Imani Winds play Reena Esmail's 'The Light is the Same.'

Franz Schubert was shorter than most people, a little self-conscious, and socially awkward. His friends affectionately called him "Schwammerl," the little mushroom. Schubert shared himself with his friends through music that many of us still treasure two centuries later. On today’s show, we’ll hear pianist Orli Shaham play a sonata by Schubert at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City.

On today's show, we'll hear the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert at their summer home in Saratoga Springs, New York. Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads a performance of the Prelude to Act One of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

Clarinetist David Shifrin served as Artistic Director of Chamber Music Northwest for 40 years, and composer David Ludwig wrote a concerto to celebrate Shifrin's artistry and legacy. We'll hear it today—David Shifrin plays the world premiere of Ludwig's Les Adieux at a Chamber Music Northwest event in Portland, Oregon.

Composer Joel Thompson made one rule when he began work on a piece in 2019. He would go through the major news stories each day before working on his composition. Hear the results on this episode of PT: "In Response to the Madness" by Joel Thompson.

So, what is a Piano Puzzler, you might ask? Well, it's a familiar tune that Bruce Adolphe has re-written in the style of a classical composer. See if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Join us for this week’s Piano Puzzler on this episode of Performance Today.