Poster Woman sitting at a piano
Croatian composer Dora Pejačević
via Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

A genuine trailblazer

Simply put, Dora Pejačević was a trailblazer. She became the first Croatian composer to write a concerto in 1913. Then, while serving as a nurse in World War One, she wrote what is considered to be the first modern symphony in Croatian music. On today's show, we'll hear Pejačević's Piano Quartet in D minor from a concert presented by the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester, New York.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Florence Price: Elfentanz
Esther Park, piano | Dawn Wohn, violin
Album: Perspectives
Delos

Bedrich Smetana: Ma Vlast: Movement 3 Sarka
WDR Symphony Orchestra | Ruth Reinhardt, conductor
EBU, Klaus von Bismarck Hall, WDR Broadcasting House, Cologne, Germany

Franz Schubert: Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor, D 821
Eric Wong, viola | Esther Park, piano
Geneva Music Festival, Froelich Hall, Gearan Center for the Performing Arts, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY

Jorg Widmann: 7 Capricci
Kebyart Ensemble
EBU, Auditorio 400, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Hour 2

Dora Pejacevic: Valse de concert, Op. 21
Natasa Veljkovic, piano
Album: Dora Pejacevic: The Complete Piano Works
CPO 5550032

Dora Pejacevic: Piano Quartet, Op. 25
Juliana Athayde, violin | Joshua Newburger, viola | David Ying, cello | Chiao-Wen Cheng, piano
Society for Chamber Music in Rochester, Beston Hall at Nazareth University, Rochester, NY

Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100: Mvt. 1
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic | Joseph Young, conductor
National Orchestral Institute + Festival, Elsie and Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD

Dmitri Shostakovich, arr. Levon Atovmyan: Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano
Nikki Chooi, violin | Timothy Chooi, violin | Clayton Stephenson, piano
Hayden's Ferry Chamber Music Series, Tempe Center For The Arts, Tempe, AZ

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

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Cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras

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2025 Classical Woman of the Year: Jessie Montgomery

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We are both proud and honored to announce that Jessie Montgomery is our 2025 PT Classical Woman of the Year. Montgomery is a celebrated composer, violinist, and educator known for compositions that blend classical, folk, jazz, and contemporary influences. Among her numerous accomplishments, she founded the Young Composers Initiative, where she mentors high school composers, assisting them in preparing their music for performance by members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Tune in today to learn more about Jessie Montgomery and why her work is so influential.

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PT Weekend: Webern's recovered work

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In 1945, Austrian composer Anton Webern and his family fled Vienna. Most of Webern’s valuables, mementos, and manuscripts were placed in a lock box, which they buried in the backyard. Sixteen years later, the box was recovered with the manuscripts inside. On today's show, we'll hear one of those 'found' pieces: Im Sommerwind (In the Summer Breeze) by Anton Webern.

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Festival Mozaic

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Anton Webern's recovered work

Anton Webern's recovered work

In 1945, Austrian composer Anton Webern and his family fled Vienna. Most of Webern’s valuables, mementos, and manuscripts were placed in a lock box, which they buried in the backyard. Sixteen years later, the box was recovered with the manuscripts inside. On today's show, we'll hear one of those 'found' pieces: Im Sommerwind (In the Summer Breeze) by Anton Webern.

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Blindfold Music

Blindfold Music

Composer Miguel del Aguila imagined a meeting between two characters: one is Justice, the blindfolded woman holding scales and a sword, and the other is Law, the man holding a book and gavel. We'll hear Imani Winds play the world premiere of Miguel del Aguila's 'Blindfold Music' on today's show.

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About Performance Today®

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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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