Poster Music conductor at rehearsals
Conductor Kwame Ryan
Courtesy of the artist
Performance Today®

Kwame Ryan

In 1980, a young aspiring conductor watched a videotape of the New York Philharmonic, and he wore 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.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Gabriela Montero: Improvisation on Prelude in C from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I, BWV 846
Gabriela Montero, piano
Album: Bach And Beyond
EMI 64647

Johann Strauss, Jr.: Die Fledermaus, Overture
Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra | Bian Zushan, conductor
EBU, Chengdu City Concert Hall, Chendu, China

Heinrich Hofmann: Serenade for Flute and String Quintet, Op. 65
Alexa Still, flute | Christiano Rodrigues, violin | Derrick Giuntini, violin | Pamela Ryan, viola | Ken Freudigman, cello | James VanDemark, bass
Round Top International Festival, Festival Concert Hall, Round Top, TX

Nikolai Kapustin: Variations, Op. 41
Maxim Lando, piano
Lillian & Robert Utsey Chamber Music Series, Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, Clemson University, Clemson, SC

Hour 2

Carlos Chavez: String Quartet No. 1: Movement 1 Allegro
Cuarteto Latinoamericano
Album: Chavez
Urtext 109

Alfred Schnittke: Gratulations Rondo
Lun Li, violin | Ying Li, piano
Honest Brook Music Festival, Delhi, NY

Ruperto Chapi: String Quartet No. 1 in G Major: Movements 2-3
Cuarteto Latinoamericano
The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, Palm Beach, FL

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: Movements 1-2
Charlotte Symphony Orchestra | Kwame Ryan, conductor
Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Belk Theatre, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte, NC

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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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