Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
Performance Today

Performance Today®

Juan R. Ramírez

Juan R. Ramírez

Violinist Juan Ramírez has been a member of the Atlanta Symphony for almost 50 years. He is also an avid gardener with a particular passion for chili peppers.  When he's not tending his peppers or practicing his violin, he's composing. On today's show, we'll hear a piece he wrote in 2002: The Suite Latina by Juan Ramírez.

Coleridge-Taylor: Keep Me from Sinking Down

Coleridge-Taylor: Keep Me from Sinking Down

African-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor spent most of his life in London. Still, in the first decade of the 1900s, he toured the US several times and fell in love with African-American spirituals. On today's show, we'll hear a piece that Coleridge-Taylor wrote inspired by one of these spirituals: Keep Me from Sinking Down.

PT Weekend: Our weekly musical game

PT Weekend: Our weekly musical game

Composer Bruce Adolphe joins us weekly for a musical game, our Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. 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 on this episode of Performance Today.

Gilles Vonsattel

Gilles Vonsattel

A friend of pianist Gilles Vonsattel convinced him to take a chance and learn a relatively unknown but very demanding piece by Austrian composer Ludwig Thuille. It was a challenge, but in the end, he was glad he went with his friend's judgment. On today's show, we'll hear Gilles Vonsattel and the St. Lawrence String Quartet play Thuille's Piano Quintet No. 2 at a concert in Charleston, South Carolina.

Cellist Andrew Joyce

Cellist Andrew Joyce

When an international cello soloist couldn't travel halfway around the world due to Covid travel restrictions, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra turned to one of their own. Join us today to hear the NZSO's Principal Cellist Andrew Joyce do more than "fill in" at an NZSO performance in Wellington, New Zealand.

Our weekly musical game

Our weekly musical game

Composer Bruce Adolphe joins us weekly for a musical game, our Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. 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 on this episode of Performance Today.

Façades

Façades

In the Roaring 20s, composer William Walton and poet Edith Sitwell created a playful work called 'Façade: An Entertainment.' And according to conductor JoAnn Falletta, the title says it all. She says, "It's not something to worry about. It's something to just be charmed by." Hear highlights from Façade on today's episode of Performance Today.

A musical migrant

A musical migrant

Conductor Delyana Lazarova calls herself a "musical migrant." She was born in Bulgaria, lives in England, and conducts orchestras all around the world. On today's show, Lazarova conducts the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra in a performance of "Night," a symphonic poem by Bulgarian composer Marin Goleminov.

PT Weekend: 20 years of the Piano Puzzler!

PT Weekend: 20 years of the Piano Puzzler!

We're celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Piano Puzzler! Bruce Adolphe joins Fred Child in the studio to discuss the evolution of our weekly musical game over the past two decades, AND Bruce also has some special "treats" to share with us.

Music to lift our spirits

Music to lift our spirits

It's fair to say that Robert Schumann was impressed when he heard Schubert's first piano trio. Schumann wrote: "..the troubles of our human existence disappear...and the whole world is fresh and bright again." Can there be a better review than that? On today's show, join us for uplifting music by Franz Schubert, his Piano Trio No. 1.

About Performance Today®

To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.

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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Your Host

Since 2000, Fred Child has been the host of Performance Today, the most-listened-to classical music radio show in America. He also is the commentator and announcer for Live From Lincoln Center, the only live performing arts series on television. He also hosts musical events on stages around the country, working with major orchestras and festivals, and connecting with audiences coast to coast.

Fred Child

Your Host

Kathryn Slusher is the senior producer of Performance Today, where she leads programming and production for the show. In her spare time, she enjoys the vibrant Twin Cities music and theater scene, and loves to read, hike and spend time with her family.

Your Host

As a Producer for Performance Today, Meghann chooses music to broadcast on the show, writes web articles and scripts, facilitates, conducts and edits interviews, creates video content and manages PT’s social media pages. She created Performance Today’s Black History Spotlight Series and the My Name is Series to highlight Black classical musicians. Meghann is also the producer for the PT Young Artist in Residence Series. In her free time, she is a mom, a part-time actress and fashion lover. Meghann also created and hosted “Wondrous Strange”, a national radio program about uncommon musical instruments, she is the official underwriting voice for ‘The New York Times’ The Daily, and she can occasionally be heard guest-hosting Performance Today.

Meghann Oglesby

Your Host

As an Associate Producer for Performance Today, Kathleen Bradbury writes scripts and assists with external communications. In her spare time, she likes to read fiction, lift heavy weights at the gym, and frolic about in nature. But above all else, Kathleen loves to sing Broadway showtunes--much to the delight of her wife, her infant son, and her rescue dog.

Kathleen Bradbury

Your Host

Jon Gohman is an associate producer for Performance Today. He is responsible for various behind-the-scenes functions, including liaising with artists and creating materials for national distribution. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing the guitar, and thinking about Langrange points.

Your Host

Craig Thorson is the Technical Director for Performance Today. In addition to mastering the live music recordings that are programmed for each daily program, he records guest performances and interviews. Craig enjoys skiing, tennis, and bicycling, and boating.

Craig Thorson

Your Host

Jeanne Barron is the technical producer of Performance Today.

Jeanne Barron
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