Performance Today®

If a composer finishes a piece but chooses not to perform or publish it during their lifetime, should we honor that and never play or hear that piece? On today's show, we'll dig into that thought and hear some examples by Joaquin Rodrigo and Maurice Ravel.

In the Schumann Quartet, three members of the group are siblings from a family named Schumann, and their father's name was Robert Schumann...but, no relation to the famous composer. We'll sort out the names and hear the Schumann Quartet play music by Schumann on this episode of Performance Today.

Duke Ellington was already a jazz legend when he introduced a new symphonic suite at Carnegie Hall in 1943. On today's episode, hear the Black, Brown, and Beige Suite, by Duke Ellington, from a recent concert in Turin, Italy.

Join us for more music from violinist Randall Goosby, one of our recent PT Young Artists in Residence. On today’s show, Randall Goosby and pianist Zhu Wang play a sonata by Richard Strauss at an idyllic venue, a converted dairy barn in New York’s Western Catskills.

At the age of 26, American composer George Walker wrote Lyric for Strings in memory of his dear grandmother. George Walker lived a long and productive life as a composer, but that composition is his most frequently played piece. On today’s show, hear Lyric for Strings by George Walker, from a performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta.

Justin Holland was born in 1819 as a free black American. He devoted his life to civil rights, did dangerous work on the Underground Railroad, and was a talented guitarist and composer. Hear and learn more about the music of Justin Holland on this episode of Performance Today.

Violinist Randall Goosby had a breakthrough year in 2021. He played a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, he was one of our featured PT Young Artists in Residence last spring, and Goosby's major-label debut album came out last summer. On today's show, Randall Goosby and pianist Zhu Wang play music by William Grant Still at a concert in Delhi, New York.

At the age of 26, American composer George Walker wrote Lyric for Strings in memory of his dear grandmother. George Walker lived a long and productive life as a composer, but that composition is his most frequently played piece. On today’s show, hear Lyric for Strings by George Walker, from a performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta.

On today's show, hear a piece that conductor Jessica Horsley describes as "...the sort of music that just makes everything alright in the world. It heals all wounds", the Symphony No. 2 by Ruth Gipps.