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.
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 Tuesday's Performance Today, the Apollo Chamber Players perform "Pannonia Boundless" by Aleksandra Vrebalov.
Antonin Dvorak wrote his marvelous Bagatelles as a gift for a dear friend. He never meant them for public performance. Lucky for us, they escaped to the wider world. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear Dvorak's Bagatelles from a concert presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
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." We'll hear it from a concert in Athens, Georgia, on this weekend's Performance Today.
Dmitri Shostakovich hid some musical cryptograms in the 3rd movement of his Symphony No. 10, but it remained a secret until the 1990's. On Friday's Performance Today, hear Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 and we'll decipher his code.
In 1868, Edvard Grieg traveled to the Norwegian countryside where he spent some of his down time writing what's become one of the most iconic piano concertos of all time. On Thursday's Performance Today, Pianist Javier Perianes plays Grieg's "Piano Concerto in A Minor" with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
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." We'll hear it from a concert in Athens, Georgia, on Wednesday's Performance Today.
On Tuesday's Performance Today, hear a composition by Valerie Coleman named "Portraits of Josephine"... inspired by the life and times of one of the most famous entertainers of the 20th Century: Josephine Baker.
When pianist Liza Stepanova was a girl, she loved going to art museums where she felt creatively inspired. These days, she often plays music with connections to visual art. On Monday's Performance Today, Liza Stepanova plays music by Debussy, inspired by Japanese artwork.
David Bruce wrote Cymbeline in 2013 for mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, and it's a PT listener favorite. On this weekend's Performance Today, hear Avi Avital and the Dover Quartet play Cymbeline at a concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
