Performance Today®

Bruce Adolphe reveals all of the secrets of the Piano Puzzler with Fred Child on 'Performance Today.'

In the 1940s, Composer John Harbison grew up in a musical family in New Jersey. The Harbisons would gather around the piano and sing together. John Harbison had those memories in mind when he wrote a set of pieces called "Songs America Loves to Sing." On today's show, we'll hear it from a concert in Athens, Georgia.

Of all the 21st century compositions we've played on PT, there is one that has gotten the most rapturous response. On today's show, hear music inspired by both the beauty of the night sky and by the pain of violence and war: Azul by Osvaldo Golijov.

When Maurice Ravel wrote Gaspard de la Nuit, he was trying to make it the most difficult piano music ever written... perhaps even unplayable. On today's show, Benjamin Grosvenor plays the unplayable in a concert presented by Capital Region Classical in Schenectady, NY.

Violinist Hilary Hahn usually appears as a soloist, but she loves chamber music and occasionally teams up with other all-stars for some musical fun. On today's show, we'll go to a concert at the Skaneateles Festival for a rare chamber performance by Hilary Hahn and friends.

What happens in the practice room, stays in the practice room, right? Well, not in the digital age, and even less so during a pandemic. Pianist Charlie Albright has been offering a peek into his practice sessions. On today's show, hear more about Albright's method and the results of his hard work as he plays Chopin's variations on a theme by Mozart.

The string quartets by Caroline Shaw are ethereal, deeply personal, and utterly captivating. On today's show, Attacca Quartet cellist Andrew Yee and composer Caroline Shaw join us to talk about their unique collaboration, and we'll hear music from their organic, open, and reflective album "Orange."

Guaguanco is a style of Cuban rumba that is often centered around the human voice and percussion. Recently, Cuban composer Guido Gavilan wrote a guaguanco...for string quartet. Can that work? We think it works beautifully. On today's show, hear the Harlem Quartet play the Cuarteto en Guaguanco by Guido Gavilan, from a concert in Colorado Springs.

James Price Johnson was a pianist and composer who helped invent the style of "stride piano." He and George Gershwin knew and respected each other's work, but Johnson thought Gershwin didn't get jazz quite right in Rhapsody in Blue. On Today's show, hear Johnson's musical response, a piece called Yamekraw. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler!