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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 

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.

Shows

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.


Host

Fred Child

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.


Senior Producer

Kathryn Slusher

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.


Producer

Meghann Oglesby

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

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.


Associate Producer

Jon Gohman

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.


Technical Director

Craig Thorson

Jeanne Barron is the technical producer of Performance Today.


Technical Producer

YourClassical MPR

Jeanne Barron

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Performance Today

On today's show, we'll hear from a major piece that begins in darkness and despair and ends in delirious joy: The Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler.



Gustav Mahler - 1902 portrait by Emil Orlík

Performance Today®

Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain

Darkness and joy

Scott Yoo is many things: violinist, conductor, and Artistic Director of Festival Mozaic, to name a few, but until recently, he hadn't considered himself a composer. In 2023, Yoo composed a piano quartet while documenting the process for his PBS series "Now Hear This." We'll hear his Piano Quartet on today's show, from a concert presented by Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California.



Kate Lemmon

Scott Yoo: Piano Quartet No. 1

Join us today for a musical exploration of Kwanzaa, a celebration of African-American heritage, culture, and community.



Stephen Chernin/Getty Images

PT Weekend: Kwanzaa

Pianist Lucas Debargue quit piano lessons in 2005 when he was 15 years old. As recently as 2015, he worked as a cashier at a supermarket. Then, he made an out-of-nowhere splash at the 2015 Tchaikovsky competition in Russia and has had a lively career ever since. Tune in today to hear Lukas Debargue play one of his own compositions at a concert in Stockholm, Sweden.



Felix Broede / Sony-Music-Entertainment

Lucas Debargue

Kwanzaa

For Christmas Day, we're playing some of the best holiday music... you might even find yourself joining the chorus. Tune in for Christmas and holiday music from concerts around the world. Happy Holidays from all of us at Performance Today!



The Christmas tree (1911) painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler

Public Domain, painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler

Happy Holidays!

On today's show, we celebrate the joys and blessings of the holiday season with music for a cozy Christmas Eve.



jgohman

The night before...

In "A Christmas Carol," Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas and generosity itself... at least until three uninvited house guests demonstrate what greed might cost him. Join us today for a musical retelling of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.



from the cover of the first edition of "A Christmas Carol"

via Wikimedia Commons

A Christmas Carol

On today's show, we'll hear some highlights from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker... but in a version that was put together in 1959 by Duke Ellington. Conductor Andrew Grams says the stylistic difference is especially apparent in the section Tchaikovsky called Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Duke Ellington called his version the Sugar Rum Cherry. Tune in today to hear Ellington’s take on the Nutcracker.

