Performance Today®

For more than 20 years now, students from top music schools have joined us as PT Young Artists in Residence, and today we'll introduce you to the next Young Artist in this year's series. Join us for music and conversation with a truly inspiring artist and music advocate, flutist Tyler Martin.

Listeners from across the country shared their nominations for the PT Classical Woman of the Year award. We've chosen pianist Lara Downes for her artistry, determination, and leadership. Join us today for a full hour of music and conversation with Lara Downes.

Eleanor Alberga decided she wanted to be a concert pianist when she was five years old. By age ten, she was composing works for the piano. Alberga is now a highly-regarded composer of music for much more than just piano. On today's show, hear members of the Minnesota Orchestra play "Shining Gate of Morpheus" by Eleanor Alberga.

In 1874, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov traveled to the northern coast of the Black Sea. The trip left a lasting impression on the composer; he was intoxicated by the Arabic and Turkish music he heard on the streets and in coffee houses. On this episode of Performance Today, we hear these exotic impressions in a concert performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

Performance Today has selected acclaimed pianist, producer, curator, storyteller, cultural visionary and arts advocate Lara Downes as the 2022 Classical Woman of the Year. This annual award recognizes women who have made significant contributions to the classical music art form and have inspired our listeners.

Listeners from across the country shared their nominations for the PT Classical Woman of the Year award. We've chosen pianist Lara Downes for her artistry, determination, and leadership. Join us today for a full hour of music and conversation with Lara Downes.

Conductor JoAnn Falletta says that audiences don't realize how much the performers rely on their energy. On today's show, pianist Juho Pohjonen and the Buffalo Philharmonic perform Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in front of a great audience in Buffalo, New York.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax, and violinist Leonidas Kavakos recently released a new album titled "Beethoven for Three." The idea is to take play Beethoven's symphonies arranged for a trio. It works surprisingly well, and we love it! Hear a couple of these pieces and a conversation with the musicians on this episode of Performance Today.

There's a photo of a young boy in an abandoned train station in Albania. The boy turns an old water bottle into a toy, and he's lost in his world of play, despite the refugee crisis around him. On today's show, hear music inspired by that photo, "A Boy and a Makeshift Toy," by Armenian-American composer Mary Kouyoumdjian. Plus, we take you to a concert in New Zealand to hear music by composer Anthony Ritchie.