Performance Today®

Watch the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with maestro Manfred Honeck and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter open the August 2013 Musikfest Berlin festival.

There are a few graceful, bursting sunrises in music. One by Richard Strauss, which became the iconic soundtrack for the film "2001: A Space Odyssey." And there's one in the ballet "Daphnis and Chloe" by Maurice Ravel. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear a new musical sunrise by American composer John Mackey: "Aurora Awakes."

Every week on Performance Today we feature music written in the 21st century. On Friday's show we'll highlight a performance from the Ecstatic Music Festival in New York, which brings together musicians from diverse musical genres.

Our current Young Artist in Residence is double bass virtuoso TianYang Liu. On Thursday's Performance Today he'll play his own arrangement of a violin showpiece: Pablo de Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen. It's hard enough to play on the violin, but it's practically impossible on double bass. Liu and his flying fingers, however, are more than up to the challenge!

Soprano Sharleen Joynt talks about covering a role at the Metropolitan Opera, her appearance on the TV show The Bachelor, and how a career in opera begs difficult questions about what is important in life.

Coming up on Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll explore the lyrical voice of the double bass with our new Young Artist in Residence: virtuoso double bassist TianYang Liu.

When pianist Jonathan Biss was a child, he adored Mozart's 22nd concerto. He even listened to a favorite recording of the concerto so many times that he wore out the tape! Coming up on Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Biss play music he adores.

There are a few graceful, bursting sunrises in music. One by Richard Strauss, which became the iconic soundtrack for the film "2001: A Space Odyssey." And there's one in the ballet "Daphnis and Chloe" by Maurice Ravel. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear a new musical sunrise by American composer John Mackey: "Aurora Awakes."

We'll go to a concert in Munich to hear the Bavarian Radio Symphony play Johannes Brahms' "Variations on a Theme by Haydn." Except...the theme is not really by Haydn. The story and the music on this weekend's Performance Today.