Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

PT Weekend: Carolina Eyck

PT Weekend: Carolina Eyck

Carolina Eyck started playing the theremin when she was seven. Her first audience...was a collection of stuffed animals at her home in Berlin. Now she's considered one of the finest players of the theremin in the world. On today's show, hear Carolina Eyck and the Apollo Chamber Players perform Bohuslav Martinu's Fantasia for theremin, oboe, string quartet and piano.

Dr. Richard White

Dr. Richard White

When Richard White was a young boy, he was homeless, living on the streets of Baltimore. At the age of four, he was adopted, and discovered the joy of making music in middle school. He went on to become the first African-American to earn a Doctorate of music in tuba performance, and is Principal Tuba in two American orchestras. On today's episode, hear the inspiring story and music of Dr. Richard White.

National Immigrants Day

National Immigrants Day

British composer Grace-Evangeline Mason wrote a piece that she wanted to "transport...listener(s) somewhere intimate and yet, surreal." On today's show, hear the world-premiere of that piece: The Imagined Forest, by Grace-Evangeline Mason.

The Imagined Forest

The Imagined Forest

British composer Grace-Evangeline Mason wrote a piece that she wanted to "transport...listener(s) somewhere intimate and yet, surreal." On today's show, hear the world-premiere of that piece: The Imagined Forest, by Grace-Evangeline Mason.

MELT

MELT

Composer David Kirkland Garner is fascinated by a wide range of American roots music, and the legacies of the people who made it happen. On today's episode, we'll hear a piece he wrote honoring the blues legend Mississippi John Hurt. It's a dance called MELT, by David Kirkland Garner, from a concert presented by the Atlanta Chamber Players.

Alondra de la Parra

Alondra de la Parra

When Alondra de la Parra was growing up in Mexico, she played piano, but she had terrible stage fright. As a conductor, she draws on the seemingly simple advice of a respected mentor: “Be strong”. On today's show, Alondra de la Parra leads the WDR Radio Orchestra in a live concert performance of "Variaciones concertantes" by Alberto Ginastera.

PT Weekend: LAGQ

PT Weekend: LAGQ

They're four of the finest classical guitarist soloists of our time, and together, they're redefined what's possible in the world of guitar. On today's show, hear the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet's take on music from Renaissance England, from a concert in Colorado Springs.

Hindemith's inventive twists

Hindemith's inventive twists

In 1940, Paul Hindemith wrote a piece music based on themes written more than a century earlier by Carl Maria von Weber. He kept Weber's basic ideas intact, but gave then some inventive 20th century twists. Hear that piece on today's show: the "Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber", by Paul Hindemith, from a concert at this year's BBC Proms.

A rare performance of an extraordinary piece

A rare performance of an extraordinary piece

In 1947, Spanish composer Manuel Palau wrote an exciting, rhythmic guitar concerto. Surprisingly, that piece hadn't been played outside of Spain until just a few months ago. On today's show, hear a rare performance of an extraordinary piece: Manuel Palau’s Concierto Levantino, featuring guitarist Jongho Park, from a concert in Seoul, South Korea.