On Monday'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.
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This weekend, our nation honors our veterans and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One. We'll hear a symphony inspired by letters home from soldiers in the trenches of the First World War. On this weekend's episode of Performance Today, we'll hear the Kansas City Symphony perform the Symphony No. 3 by Jonathan Leshnoff.
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Performance Today is giving away a prize pack that's perfect for autumn, including music by Aaron Copland, a scarf and more. Enter our Autumn Giveaway -- and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter when you do so you never miss a great performance on Performance Today!
Come match wits with Bruce Adolphe - now you can play the Piano Puzzler anytime, anywhere! Every week, we're putting a sneak peek of the upcoming Puzzler online; have a listen, and then send us your best guess.
Classical music is powerful, not just for what it is but what it does. It helps us feel better and live bigger. We want to hear from you. When did music make you feel better? Find out how you can share your story.
We recently started tracking how many pieces of music on our program were composed by, performed by or conducted by women. The numbers made it clear: women are underrepresented. Performance Today wants to change that.
Rachel Barton Pine is so much more than a violin soloist. This October, she is seeing the start of the next phase of her enormous, 15-year project that adds to her brand publisher, researcher, advocate and educator.
We're celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month! We had the honor of speaking to Francisco Nunez, a choral conductor who won a 2011 MacArthur Genius Grant, to name one accolade, but his accomplishments are vast. Listen to this excerpt of their conversation in which Mr. Nunez tells us about what got him started, his musical idols, and role models.
He led thrilling concerts. He traveled the world. He hobnobbed with brilliant thinkers and artists. Is there anything Leonard Bernstein missed out on in his rich life? His daughter Jamie Bernstein says yes. He would have loved the Internet, she says, but more importantly he never fully understood the impact that his music has had on the world.
Charlie Harmon worked for several years as an assistant to Leonard Bernstein. In his new book On the Road and Off the Record With Leonard Bernstein and in his interview with Fred Child, Harmon describes vividly the October day in 1990 he was called to visit Bernstein and realized it was the last time they would see each other.
Aaron Stern feels there's a reason he and Leonard Bernstein became so close. Stern says he learned a lot from Bernstein about music and feels he was able to teach Bernstein something about wisdom not long before Bernstein's death. Together they came up with the idea for the Academy for the Love of Learning which is celebrating 20 years as a nonprofit organization.
In so many ways, Leonard Bernstein was extraordinary. Talented, charismatic and handsome to boot, it was if a magic wand tapped his head at birth. His daughter Jamie Bernstein in her new book Famous Father Girl describes what the public didn't see: the doubt and guilt that nagged his conscience AND fueled his music.
