Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Pianist Joyce Yang: music and color

Pianist Joyce Yang: music and color

Synesthesia is a neurological condition where sensory perceptions overlap. For pianist Joyce Yang, different sounds trigger the experience of different colors. On Monday's Performance Today, hear how Joyce Yang experiences sound and music, then hear her play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Nashville Symphony.

Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky died at a young age, leaving debt and several unfinished compositions. His friend, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, decided to help by getting Mussorgsky's works published and settling his debts... a nice thing to do, except it wasn't necessarily what Mussorgsky would have wanted. On Saturday's Performance Today, the story and an example: Night on Bald Mountain, by Modest Mussorgsky... finishing touches by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Nick Canellakis guest hosts.

Unfinished business

Unfinished business

Modest Mussorgsky died at a young age, leaving debt and several unfinished compositions. His friend, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, decided to help by getting Mussorgsky's works published and settling his debts... a nice thing to do, except it wasn't necessarily what Mussorgsky would have wanted. On Friday's Performance Today, the story and an example: Night on Bald Mountain, by Modest Mussorgsky... finishing touches by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Nick Canellakis guest hosts.

Andras Schiff

Andras Schiff

Andras Schiff says he begins every day by playing a full hour of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier... he says "It's like taking care of your inner hygiene. There is something very pure about it." Hear pianist Andras Schiff in concert on Thursday's Performance Today.

Debussy: love and rackets

Debussy: love and rackets

When Claude Debussy wrote the music for the ballet "Jeux", he was picturing a game of tennis between two women and one man. In a tennis score, "love" means zero, but in Debussy's score, love is everything. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear romance and seduction on the courts, from a concert by the New York Philharmonic.

Saleem Ashkar

Saleem Ashkar

Pianist Saleem Ashkar says he never heard classical music growing up in Israel. Then, when he was six years old, Saleem's father traded a truck for a piano... and Saleem found his calling. On Tuesday's Performance Today, Saleem Ashkar plays Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

Simone Porter

Simone Porter

Violinist Simone Porter is 21 years-old, and has been soloing with major orchestras for years. Porter made her professional solo debut at age 10 with the Seattle Symphony, and in March 2015, she was named a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. On Monday's Performance Today, Simone Porter takes the stage with the Nashville Symphony, performing the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Samuel Barber. Valerie Kahler guest hosts.

Pannonia Boundless

Pannonia Boundless

Composer Aleksandra Vrebalov visited a bunch of taverns in preparation for one of her compositions. She wasn't looking for a liquid muse. She was seeking the sounds of Romanian folk music. On Saturday's Performance Today, the Apollo Chamber Players perform Vrebalov's Pannonia Boundless, with Jade Simmons filling in as guest host.

Composer Aleksandra Vrebalov

Composer Aleksandra Vrebalov

Composer Aleksandra Vrebalov visited a bunch of taverns in preparation for one of her compositions. She wasn't looking for a liquid muse. She was seeking the sounds of Romanian folk music. On Friday's Performance Today, the Apollo Chamber Players perform Vrebalov's Pannonia Boundless, with Jade Simmons filling in as guest host.

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