Poster Martin Luther King, Jr
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his 'I Have a Dream' speech.
Rowland Scherman/National Archives
Performance Today®

Honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The impact of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is more important than ever. Join us for a special edition of Performance Today honoring King through music. We'll hear the music he loved and the pieces composed by musicians who loved him as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Thomas Dorsey: Precious Lord, Take My Hand
The Fall-Jones Ensemble | Mahalia Jackson, vocal
Album: Bless This House
Columbia Records 889

Valerie Coleman: Shotgun Houses
Anthony McGill, clarinet | Pacifica Quartet
Album: American Stories
Cedille

Steven Banks: Come As You Are
Steven Banks, saxophone | Pedja Muzijevic, piano
Spoleto Festival USA Chamber Music Series, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, SC

Margaret Bonds: Three Dream Portraits - II. Dream Variation
Bonnie Pomfret, soprano | Laura Gordy, piano
Album: De Toda la Eternidad
ACA

Alma Androzzo, arr. Stacey Gibbs: If I can help somebody
The King's Singers
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

Hour 2

deVon Russell Gray: Only This Laughter; Only Your Tears
Lara Downes, piano
Album: Love at Last
Pentatone

Scott Joplin: Treemonisha: Overture
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra | Rick Benjamin, conductor
Album: Scott Joplin: Treemonisha
New World 80720

Michael Abels: Delights and Dances
Chicago Sinfonietta | Harlem Quartet | Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
Album: Delights and Dances
Cedille 90000 141

Duke Ellington, arr. David Schiff: Ducal Suite: Heaven
David Shifrin, clarinet | Dover Quartet | Harlem Quartet
Album: Clarinet Quintets for Our Time
Delos 3576

Derrick Skye: American Mirror Part II
Suliman Tekalli and Ravenna Lipchik, violins | Samantha Rodriguez, viola | Joseph Johnson, cello | Consensus Ensemble, vocal drone
Lakes Area Music Festival, Tornstrom Auditorium  Brainerd, MN

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

PT Weekend: David Lai

PT Weekend: David Lai

We're pleased to introduce the first of our 2025 PT Young Artists in Residence: pianist David Lai. David joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our Saint Paul studio on today's show.

1:59:00
Where true joy is serious business

Where true joy is serious business

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra has an official motto. It's carved in stone on the side of their concert hall, a Latin phrase that translates: "True joy is serious business." We'll hear some of that joy from a concert in Leipzig, Germany, on today’s episode of Performance Today.

1:59:00
Rossini's worst critic: Rossini

Rossini's worst critic: Rossini

When composer Gioachino Rossini was 12, he wrote six "terrible" sonatas. WE don't think they're terrible—Rossini is the one that used that word. So, see what you think... join us today to hear Rossini's not-so-terrible String Sonata No. 3 from a concert in Portland, Oregon.

1:59:00
The Year of the Snake

The Year of the Snake

It’s the Year of the Snake! For more than two billion people across many Asian cultures and the Asian diaspora, it's the beginning of a new year, the Lunar New Year. Join us today for celebratory music from Sichuan province, with a violinist born in the Year of the Snake.

1:59:00
Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier'

Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier'

Marc-Andre Hamelin is one of the most celebrated and respected pianists of our time. His performances are known for their brilliance, technical mastery, and deep musicality. On today's show, we'll hear Hamelin play one of the world’s most challenging piano compositions: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29, the Hammerklavier.

1:59:00
Young Artist in Residence: David Lai

Young Artist in Residence: David Lai

We’re proud to introduce you to pianist David Lai, our newest PT Young Artist in Residence. He joined Fred Child in our St. Paul studio — hear his music and the entire interview here!

44:27
Meet David Lai

Meet David Lai

We're pleased to introduce the first of our 2025 PT Young Artists in Residence: pianist David Lai. David joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our Saint Paul studio on today's show.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: Music from a summer home

PT Weekend: Music from a summer home

We'll hear the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert at their summer home in Saratoga Springs, New York, on today's show. Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads a performance of the Prelude to Act One of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

1:59:00
Inon Barnatan and Summerfest La Jolla

Inon Barnatan and Summerfest La Jolla

Pianist Inon Barnatan keeps busy as a musician, playing on the most prestigious stages around the world. He's also the Music Director of Summerfest La Jolla in California. On today's show, we'll hear a stunning performance at a stunning location—Inon Barnatan and violinist Augustin Hadelich play a piece by Camille Saint-Saens at Summerfest La Jolla.

1:59:00
Bruckner the late bloomer

Bruckner the late bloomer

Anton Bruckner was a late bloomer. He wrote his first major piece at age 40. He built some momentum in his 50s, but musicians, critics, and most audiences at the time didn't fully appreciate his work. Bruckner got his first authentic taste of success with a piece he premiered in 1884 at the age of 60. We'll hear from that work on today's show: Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7.

1:59:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Performance Today®

To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.

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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