Performance Today®

On this episode of Performance Today, hear Pedja Muzijevic and his friends in the St. Lawrence String Quartet play the Piano Quintet No. 2 by Antonin Dvorak, from a concert at the 2019 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC.

It's one of most emotionally moving and relevant pieces of the 21st century. On today's show, hear Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson, performed by the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Morehouse College Glee Club, and the Florida A&M University Concert Choir.

Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia had a tyrannical father who punished her for playing music. Her life didn't get any easier when her father died, but music remained her secret source of comfort. On today's show, hear the Flute Sonata in F Major by Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia.

In printing and publishing, a watermark is a faint design in paper that's used to identify the time and place the paper came from. Composer Caroline Shaw had a poetic version of that idea and composed a piece that references a Beethoven piano concerto. On today's show, hear Jonathan Biss and the Saint Paul Chamber orchestra play Watermark, by Caroline Shaw.

The Alhambra is a sprawling palace and fortress built in the 1300s on a hill overlooking the city of Granada, Spain. On today's episode, hear a shimmering piece inspired by the colorful gardens on the grounds of the palace. Pianist Bernadene Blaha and the Texas Festival Orchestra perform Nights in the Gardens of Spain, by Manuel de Falla.

When Michelle Rofrano was a girl, she loved listening to classical music and opera with her grandparents. As a teenager, she became fascinated by watching orchestral conductors — so when Rofrano finally stepped in front of an orchestra in college, she knew immediately that conducting was her place in music. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Michelle Rofrano leads the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in a (pre-pandemic) concert performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 1.

It's fair to say that Robert Schumann was impressed when he heard Schubert's first piano trio. Schumann wrote: "..the troubles of our human existence disappear...and the whole world is fresh and bright again." Can there be a better review than that? On today's show, join us for uplifting music by Franz Schubert, his Piano Trio No. 1.

Due to current circumstances, Performance Today has adapted the concert content from its Young Artist in Residence Program to provide virtual learning experiences in their new series "Performance Today in the Classroom." Today's PT in the Classroom Music Lesson features PT Young Artist in Residence Randall Goosby.

Composer Amédée Barré was born on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in 1904. And, even though his official occupation was as a justice court clerk, many saw him as a true musician at heart. He was a mandolin virtuoso, a violin teacher, and performer who composed Creole songs. On today's show, hear Barré's grandsons, the Grimbert-Barre Trio, play a set of his Creole songs at a concert presented by the Colour of Music Festival.