Performance Today®

For many, seeing an extraordinary celestial event is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll celebrate today's total eclipse with celestial music, including a musical reference to a total eclipse from eight centuries ago. We'll hear the overture to Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor.

Franz Schreker was an innovative Austrian composer in the early 1900s, but the Third Reich banned Schreker's music along with that of many other composers of Jewish origin. Now, some orchestras are reviving his music. We'll hear Franz Schreker's distinctive 'Kammersymphonie' ('Chamber Symphony') on today's show, with Alan Gilbert conducting the SummerFest Chamber Orchestra in La Jolla, California. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week’s Piano Puzzler!

Pianists and violinists can make a living as professional classical music freelancers, but an oboist? That's a real rarity. James Austin Smith is a pioneering oboist in so many ways. On today's show, we'll hear James Austin Smith in concert at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.

Marc-Andre Hamelin is one of the most celebrated and respected pianists of our time. His performances are known for their brilliance, technical mastery, and deep musicality. On today's show, we'll hear Hamelin play one of the world’s most challenging piano compositions: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29, the Hammerklavier.

Franz Schreker was an innovative Austrian composer in the early 1900s, but the Third Reich banned Schreker's music along with that of many other composers of Jewish origin. Now, some orchestras are reviving his music. We'll hear Franz Schreker's distinctive 'Kammersymphonie' ('Chamber Symphony') on today's show, with Alan Gilbert conducting the SummerFest Chamber Orchestra in La Jolla, California.

Yurui "Rain" Hou loves how chamber music is like conversation and how the composer gets to construct the conversation note by note. Hou is 19 years old and a student at Columbia University in New York City, but don't discount her music because of her age. On today's show, we'll hear a piece Rain Hou composed for the Emerging Composers Intensive in Carmel Valley, California.

In 1860, Emily Dickinson wrote a poem about how there is a deep metaphorical kind of music that is everywhere, all the time. It might be the spark of life, but we're often so caught up with activity that we don't hear it, yet when we stop and listen, that music is always there. On today's show, we'll hear music inspired by Dickinson's poem: 'Musicians Wrestle Everywhere' by Judith Weir.

As a teenager, Julia Perry found her passion in composition. In her 20s, Perry spent five years studying composition and conducting in Paris and Rome. She had a powerful sense of her place in the world; she signed her passport: "Julia Perry, Composer." On today's show, we'll hear the world premiere recording of the Violin Concerto by Julia Perry.

‘Performance Today’ has selected performing-arts advocate Deborah Borda as the 2024 Classical Woman of the Year. This annual award recognizes women who have made significant contributions to the classical music art form and have inspired our listeners. Find out more!