The shortest day

As a young man, composer Shawn Okpebholo firmly believed he would someday write music for the Imani Winds. Twenty years later, that wish has come true with a new piece. It's music inspired by justice, hope, and a desire for harmony. The Imani Winds play Rise by Shawn Okpebholo on today’s show.

In 1980, a young aspiring conductor watched a videotape of the New York Philharmonic, wearing the tape out as he dreamed of his future. Kwame Ryan is now in his first season as Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. On today’s show, we’ll hear them play Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 at a concert in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Violinist Leila Josefowicz has forged a tremendous career specializing in 20th and 21st-century music. At times, Josefowicz has faced reluctance or resistance from what she sees as the somewhat stodgy traditions in some parts of the classical music world. Still, she believes that the greatest music happens when one overcomes fear and pushes the traditional boundaries.  On today's show, Leila Josefowicz plays Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, backed by conductor Donald Runnicles and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra.

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. 

In 2016, pianist and composer Gabriela Montero wrote a concerto reflecting how people perceive Latin America. She says it's not an overtly political piece, but it does express the light and dark sides of the subject. Today, we'll hear Gabriela Montero play her “Latin Concerto” with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm.

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.

Pianist Kirill Gerstein recently released an album called Music in Time of War. The album includes the Etudes Claude Debussy wrote during the First World War and music by composer and musicologist Komitas, who lived through the Armenian Genocide. Fred Child recently spoke with Gerstein about the project and how it reflects on the world. Join us today for a special hour of music and conversation with Kirill Gerstein.

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

Happy New Year! On today's show, we'll usher in 2025 with Johann Hummel's playful trumpet concerto and a special Piano Puzzler from composer Bruce Adolphe.

On today's show, we'll hear from a major piece that begins in darkness and despair and ends in delirious joy: The Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler.