Performance Today®

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.

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.

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.

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.

A few years ago, composer Rick Sowash set a poem to music, creating a song. And then he turned that song into a musical conversation between flute and cello. On today's show, hear the Sylvan Trio perform the end result: Seasonal Breezes, by Rick Sowash.

Composer Robert W. Butts he was working on a new piece when he took a break to attend a concert of Irish music. When the musicians started playing jigs, he decided that that sound—celebratory Celtic dance music—was just what he needed in his final movement. On today's show, hear the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey perform Robert W. Butts' new Viola Concerto. It's classical music with a Celtic kick.

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.

Pianist Connor Chee is a member of the Navajo nation. He wanted to preserve traditional songs his grandfather sang, but they wouldn't fit neatly into standard musical notation...so Chee wrote his own music, based on those old songs. Hear Connor Chee's "Navajo Vocables" on this edition of Performance Today.

An orchestra of talented young players from Cuba recently traveled to Berlin. Join us today for a highlight from that extraordinary concert. It's the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, on this edition of Performance Today.