Performance Today®

When composer Victoria Kelly was a kid in New Zealand, she watched an animated show featuring an adorable kiwi bird. At the end of each episode, the kiwi ended the show by turning out the lights. Kelly used this memory to compose a piece of music that ultimately helped her to say "goodnight" to her ailing mother. On today's show, hear pianist Juho Pohjonen perform Goodnight Kiwi, by Victoria Kelly.

American composer John Adams wrote a piece for clarinetist Michael Collins: "Gnarly Buttons." That unusual title is a half joking reference to how difficult it is to play the clarinet, which has all those difficult keys on it, those... gnarly buttons. On today's show, hear Michael Collins and members of the Minnesota Orchestra play this fun, yet emotional piece of music.

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.

Composer Louise Farrenc grew up in Paris in the early 1800s. She had a great career as a pianist and composer, and she was hired as a professor...but at half the pay as men doing the same work. Louise Farrenc fought for and GOT equal pay. We'll hear chamber music by Louise Farrenc, on this edition of Performance Today, from APM.

Conductor Michael Morgan died two weeks ago, at the age of 63. He spoke with us last year, and said: "I think the best thing that one can do...is to be remembered for passing it forward...and that's really what I want to be known for in the end." And he passed SO much forward. Remembering conductor Michael Morgan, on this episode of Performance Today, from APM.

Composer Meira Warshauer loves Mozart's Symphony No. 40, but for her it feels incomplete...so she wrote her own piece to resolve a few spiritual and musical questions. On today's show, hear the Western Piedmont Symphony play Meira Warshauer's response and tribute to Mozart: As the Waters Cover the Sea.

Composer Louise Farrenc grew up in Paris in the early 1800s. She had a great career as a pianist and composer, and she was hired as a professor...but at half the pay as men doing the same work. Louise Farrenc fought for and GOT equal pay. We'll hear chamber music by Louise Farrenc, on this edition of Performance Today, from APM.

In the early 1970s, two Juilliard students met and became close friends. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax. Their friendship has spanned almost half a century now, and their musical collaborations go back more than 40 years. On today's show, Fred Child talks to Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma about music and emotions, and we'll hear from their brand new album Hope Amid Tears.

We don't toss the word "virtuoso" around casually, but in some cases, it clearly applies. On today's episode, join us for virtuosic performance by Alexander Gavrylyuk - who, by the way, would like to redefine what we mean by the word 'virtuoso.'