Performance Today®

At age seventeen, composer Kayhan Kalhor left his home in Iran, fled for safety, and walked over two-thousand five-hundred miles to Italy, alone, with just a small backpack and his beloved kamancheh (spiked fiddle). We'll hear music Kalhor wrote for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on today’s show.

Osmo Vänskä has seen the Minnesota Orchestra through a great deal of struggle, change, and triumph. Now, Vänskä has decided to end his 19-year tenure as their Music Director, and this weekend, the orchestra is saying farewell to him with several celebratory concerts. Join us today for an exceptional Minnesota Orchestra performance of a new composition by Osmo Vänskä himself.

After a visit to the coast of England, composer Ethel Smyth became fascinated by the history of "wrecking" - where villagers on the coast would lure ships onto the rocks and plunder the wrecked vessels. Hear music by Ethel Smyth from a piece called "The Wreckers" on today's show.

At age seventeen, composer Kayhan Kalhor left his home in Iran, fled for safety, and walked over two-thousand five-hundred miles to Italy, alone, with just a small backpack and his beloved kamancheh (spiked fiddle). We'll hear music Kalhor wrote for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on today’s show.

In 2014, Hungarian composer Péter Eötvös wrote a piece blending his phrases with music by Mozart. In today’s episode, hear a musical conversation between the 18th and 21st centuries: Dialogue with Mozart by Péter Eötvös.

Cuban pianist and composer Aldo Lopez-Gavilan is equally talented in classical and jazz. He draws from both worlds when he composes, leaving plenty of room for improvisation. Hear original music by Aldo Lopez-Gavilan from a concert in Bonita Springs, Florida, on this episode of Performance Today.

Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia had a tyrannical father who punished her for playing music. Her life didn't get any easier when her father died, but music remained her secret source of comfort. We'll hear a flute sonata by Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia on today's show. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week’s Piano Puzzler!

The Sphinx Virtuosi is an ensemble made up of alumni of the Sphinx Competition. On today’s show, violinists Lady Jess and Emilia Mettenbrink join us to share their experiences with the group, and we'll hear highlights from the Sphinx Virtuosi's recent concert in St. Paul.

Alexi Kenney first appeared on Performance Today as a Young Artist in Residence back in 2015. Since then, he has become one of the greatest violinists of his generation. In this episode, we hear his renditions of classic compositions resonate inside the beautiful St. Francis Church in Locarno, Switzerland.