Performance Today®

When Samuel Coleridge-Taylor premiered his Piano Quintet in 1893, he thought that would be the end and that it wouldn't be played again. And for more than a century, he was right. However, the handwritten manuscript was found in 2001. This quintet is now published and played around the world.  Join us today to hear Coleridge-Taylor’s Piano Quintet played by an all-star ensemble at the ChamberFest Cleveland music festival.

Composer Jimmy Lopez Bellido discovered J.S. Bach's music when he was 11 years old. It struck through him like lightning and opened him up to the ecstasy of classical music. Bellido now tries to create those emotional experiences in his own music. On today's show, we'll hear his piece, Rise!, performed at the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd, Minnesota.

Tessa Lark is a uniquely American violinist. She has classical conservatory training and grew up playing the fiddle in her family bluegrass band in Kentucky. On today’s show, Tessa Lark shares two sides of herself with a sonata by Eugene Ysaye and a new piece named “The Ysaye Shuffle” by none other than Tessa Lark!

Cellist Joshua Roman almost quit music altogether after developing Long Covid in 2021, but an encounter with Bach reminded him that the cello has been his lifelong friend. He's now shifted his mindset to center human connection over perfection in music and life. On today's show, he'll join Fred Child to discuss his journey with Long Covid and his new project, Immunity.

Cellist Joshua Roman almost quit music altogether after developing Long Covid in 2021, but an encounter with Bach reminded him that the cello has been his lifelong friend. He's now shifted his mindset to center human connection over perfection in music and life. On today's show, he'll join Fred Child to discuss his journey with Long Covid and his new project, Immunity.

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

In 2008, composer Peteris Vasks wrote a new piece, a fantasy for violin and strings. In the program notes, he wrote: "It is about the greatest power in the whole world—love. Love is, was, and will be as long as we will be... I hope this work will reach the listeners and make the world a little brighter and more open to love." We'll hear Vox Amoris (Voice of Love) by Peteris Vasks on today's show.

In 1994, violinist Leonidas Kavakos played an exceptional violin in New York. He says, "It felt like the earth moved beneath me." Sadly, the instrument wasn't for sale. Twenty years later, he found that same violin in London; this time, he wouldn't let it get away. Kavakos plays his 1734 Willemotte Strad on today’s show.

Valerie Coleman's "Tzigane" is a fiery response to a classic. Inspired by Ravel's iconic piece of the same name, Coleman channeled the energy and spirit of Roma music into a composition for wind quintet. On today's show, we'll hear the Imani Winds play Coleman's Tzigane at a performance presented by the Colorado College Summer Music Festival.