Poster Kwanzaa
Malaiyka Reid of Brooklyn, New York, performs during a Kwanzaa celebration on December 27, 2003, at The Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Stephen Chernin/Getty Images
Performance Today®

Happy Kwanzaa!

Join us today for a musical exploration of Kwanzaa, a celebration of African-American heritage, culture, and community.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Jean Francaix: Quintette: II. Presto-Trio
Imani Winds
Album: Umoja
Imani 6227

Valerie Coleman: Umoja (Unity)
Imani Winds
Album: Imani Winds
Koch 7661

Jeff Scott: Titilayo
Imani Winds
UChicago Presents, Performance Hall, Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago Chicago, IL

Stewart Goodyear: Callaloo
Stewart Goodyear, piano | Chineke! Orchestra | Wayne Marshall, conductor
Album: Gershwin | Goodyear
Orchid 100100

Nina Simone: Young Gifted and Black
PUBLIQuartet
Album: Freedom and Faith
Bright Shiny Things

Omar Thomas: Come Sunday: Movement 2
Dallas Winds | Jerry Junkin, conductor
Meyerson Symphony Hall, Dallas, TX

Hour 2

Joaquin Rodrigo: "Que buen caminito" from Dos Pequenas Fantasias
Scott Tennant, guitar
Album: Rodrigo: Complete Guitar Works Vol. 2
GHA 126044

Wilhelm Stenhammar: Excelsior!
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra | Ryan Bancroft, conductor
Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden

Maurice Ravel: Violin Sonata, op posth.
Cecilia Berkovich, violin | Miguel Ituarte, piano
Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, Spain

Joaquin Rodrigo: Song in the Night
Cecilia Berkovich, violin | Miguel Ituarte, piano
Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, Spain

Max Bruch: Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op. 83 Movements 1, 2, 7
Prima Trio
Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, Flagler Museum, West Room, Palm Beach, FL

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PT Weekend: Daniel Dastoor

PT Weekend: Daniel Dastoor

Meet violinist Daniel Dastoor, our next 2024 PT Young Artists in Residence. On today's show, Daniel joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our Saint Paul studio.

1:59:00
Mimi Stillman plays Zhou Tian's Concerto for Flute

Mimi Stillman plays Zhou Tian's Concerto for Flute

Composer Zhou Tian recently wrote a new concerto for his longtime friend and collaborator, flutist Mimi Stillman. On today's episode, Stillman joins Fred Child to give a detailed look behind the scenes of the collaborative process and share her favorite moments of this unique work. We'll experience the beauty of the new Concerto for Flute by Zhou Tian, in a world premiere recording by flutist Mimi Stillman and the United States Marine Chamber Orchestra. 

1:59:00
Maddalena Lombardini

Maddalena Lombardini

Maddalena Lombardini had a great career as a violinist and composer in the 18th century. She was the soloist at the 1771 premiere of her own Violin Concerto in London. On today’s show, we'll hear Lombardini’s Violin Concerto from a recent concert at the Kurt Weill Festival in Germany.

1:59:00
Meet Daniel Dastoor

Meet Daniel Dastoor

Meet violinist Daniel Dastoor, our next 2024 PT Young Artists in Residence. On today's show, Daniel joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our Saint Paul studio.

1:59:00
Young Artist in Residence: Daniel Dastoor

Young Artist in Residence: Daniel Dastoor

We’re proud to introduce you to violinist Daniel Dastoor, the next of our 2024 cohort of PT Young Artists in Residence. Daniel joined Fred Child in our St. Paul studio—hear Daniel’s music and the entire interview here!

44:16
Lost and found Mendelssohn

Lost and found Mendelssohn

When Felix Mendelssohn was 14, he wrote music for a family party. The manuscript was then stashed away in the Mendelssohn household and forgotten about, and it wasn't played again until 1999. Hear the lost and found Double Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn on today’s show.

1:59:00
Scott Yoo: Piano Quartet, Op. 1

Scott Yoo: Piano Quartet, Op. 1

Scott Yoo is many things: violinist, conductor, and Artistic Director of Festival Mozaic, to name a few, but until recently, he hadn't considered himself a composer. In 2023, Yoo composed a piano quartet while documenting the process for his PBS series "Now Hear This." We'll hear his Piano Quartet on today's show, from a concert presented by Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: Paul Wiancko

PT Weekend: Paul Wiancko

During the pandemic, when concert halls were closed, cellist and composer Paul Wiancko was overflowing with ideas. Wiancko says he filled a new piece he was working on with feelings of love, fantasy, and the joy of being together. Join us today to hear ‘Cities of Air’ by Paul Wiancko at a concert in Charleston, South Carolina.

1:59:00
Lucas Debargue

Lucas Debargue

Pianist Lucas Debargue quit piano lessons in 2005 when he was 15 years old. As recently as 2015, he worked as a cashier at a supermarket. Then, he made an out-of-nowhere splash at the 2015 Tchaikovsky competition in Russia and has had a lively career ever since. Tune in today to hear Lukas Debargue play one of his own compositions at a concert in Stockholm, Sweden.

1:59:00
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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.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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