Performance Today®

Composer Margi Griebling-Haigh is part of a musical family in Cleveland, with quite a few professional composers and musicians, so it's no surprise that family celebrations are bursting with music. We'll hear a rhapsody she wrote for her daughter's wedding on this episode of Performance Today.

Joachim Prinz was a tireless advocate for human rights, a man who confronted injustice and oppression wherever he saw it. He once said, "The most tragic problem is silence." On today's show, hear music inspired by the life and words of Joachim Prinz: I Will Not Remain Silent by Bruce Adolphe.

Composer Jessie Montgomery says she's made an attempt to answer the question: "What does an anthem for the 21st century sound like in today's multicultural environment?" On today's show, hear Montgomery's answer, a rhapsody on the Star Spangled Banner.

The Acana tree can grow up to 90 feet, standing tall over wide-spreading roots. It's remarkably strong wood is essential to Cuban life and society. On today's show, hear music inspired by this majestic tree: Acana by the 2021 Pulitzer Prize winning composer Tania León.

We're proud to introduce you to our next 2021 PT Young Artist in Residence: pianist Tristan Paradee. Tristan recently joined us via Zoom from a studio in North Hollywood, CA. Touch or click here for more info, conversation, and music!

For more than 20 consecutive years now, students from top schools of music around the country have joined us as PT Young Artists in Residence. On today's show, we continue this year's series with pianist Tristan Paradee.

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game—our Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer, and we get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with this week’s Piano Puzzler!

During the 1920s, Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu began to withdraw from the styles in which he was trained, and ballets became his favorite medium for experimentation. On today's show, hear ballet music set in an unusual setting: La Revue de Cuisine (Kitchen Revue) by Bohuslav Martinu.

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.