Performance Today®

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.'

Composer David Kirkland Garner began writing a piece to honor a particular fiddler's legacy, but, as he found out more, he began moving in a very different direction. On today's show, hear a fiddle tune that's been demolished, transformed, and rebuilt: CROW by David Kirkland Garner.

Antonin Dvorak didn't like having a reputation as a composer of light, charming, toe-tapping tunes. He wanted to create something profound. With that in mind, he began composing a new symphony, and he wrote to a friend: "...this (piece) must shake the world!" Experience the earth-shaking Symphony No. 7, by Dvorak, on this episode of Performance Today.

English composer Ruth Gipps was born in 1921. She composed music throughout her life, but she was also a champion of 20th century music. Gipps founded two orchestras that focussed on music by living composers, and she fought for the place of women among contemporary composers, conductors and performers right up until her death in 1999. 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.

Composer David Kirkland Garner began writing a piece to honor a particular fiddler's legacy, but, as he found out more, he began moving in a very different direction. On today's show, hear a fiddle tune that's been demolished, transformed, and rebuilt: CROW by David Kirkland Garner.

When Hassan Anderson was in high school, he played the school's "loaner" oboe. His mother felt strongly that he was too talented to be playing on a cheap oboe, so she made a big sacrifice; she sold her car to buy his first professional oboe. On today's show, hear Hassan Anderson and pianist Eliran Avni play music by Thomas Dorsey, from a concert in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Composer Michael Abels wrote a piece specifically for the great musical brothers: Anthony and Demarre McGill. It's cooperative and competitive, as well as delicate and powerful at the same time. On today's show, hear the McGill brothers perform Winged Creatures, by Michael Abels.