Inspiring Beethoven

‘Performance Today’ has selected performer and composer Jessie Montgomery as the 2025 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!

Composer Damien Geter spent much of the pandemic reliving his love of 90s neo-soul. He says the music of Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill helped him get through. As a classical composer, he wanted to write his own music in homage to neo-soul. On today's show, we'll hear what he came up with: "Neo-Soul," the String Quartet No. 1 by Damien Geter.

In 1911, Spanish composer Enrique Granados composed a set of six pieces for solo piano. These works were inspired by the paintings of Spanish artist Francisco Goya and showcase a distinctly Spanish influence. On today's program, we'll hear emerging American pianist Angie Zhang perform the first piece from Enrique Granados's Goyescas collection.

American composer Adolphus Hailstork has a series of pieces called his "cathedral series," which emphasize the sense of centeredness and calm found within sacred spaces. Join us for a moment of stillness with Hailstork's meditative work, Sanctum: Rhapsody for Viola & Piano, from a concert presented by Spivey Hall at Clayton State University, just south of Atlanta in Morrow, Georgia.

Violinist Leila Josefowicz has built a career exploring less conventional music; she is well known for performing works by 21st-century composers. She also connects with Igor Stravinsky's music because he was interested in exploring unexpected sounds. Today, we take you to a recent concert in Berlin to hear Leila Josefowicz perform Stravinsky's Violin Concerto with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Roderick Cox.

Composer Viet Cuong recently took an inventive approach to a piece commissioned by Houston-based ROCO. He mapped his family members' astrological signs—Virgo, Aries, Sagittarius, and Leo—onto ROCO’s seating chart; the star placements determined a small ensemble that interacts with the rest of the chamber orchestra, essentially creating a concerto grosso. In today’s episode of PT, we’ll hear the result of this creative process: Constellations by Viet Cuong.

French composer Jean Cras was from Brittany, that large, rocky peninsula directly west of Normandy. Brittany's history is deeply connected to the Celtic world, and Cras’s music often reflects a Celtic sensibility, the sounds of the sea, and the rhythms of the old world. Today, we'll hear the Black Oak Ensemble perform Jean Cras’s playful and inventive String Trio at a concert hosted by the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida.

Whether you're gathering with friends and family or settling in for a cozy weekend of solitude, we've got Thanksgiving music to keep you company. Join us for nourishing music and reflections on gratitude.

Composer Viet Cuong recently took an inventive approach to a piece commissioned by Houston-based ROCO. He mapped his family members' astrological signs—Virgo, Aries, Sagittarius, and Leo—onto ROCO’s seating chart; the star placements determined a small ensemble that interacts with the rest of the chamber orchestra, essentially creating a concerto grosso. In today’s episode of PT, we’ll hear the result of this creative process: Constellations by Viet Cuong.

Today, we're highlighting a piece inspired by a composer's experience of moving alone to a new city at age 18, exploring the human ability to adapt. Tune in to hear Danielle Eva Schwob's evocative work Breathing Underwater, performed by members of the Merian Ensemble in Atlanta, Georgia.