Performance Today®

The Chinese lute, or pipa, has been around for more than two thousand years. On today's show, we'll hear a 21st century composition for pipa performed by Wu Man and the Lexington Symphony at a concert in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Mexican composer Arturo Marquez says he has always been enthralled by the music bubbling out of cafes and dance salons in Mexico. On Today's show, hear the Dorian Wind Quintet perform Danza del Mediodia, by Arturo Marquez, inspired by the cafe music of Mexico City.

Hannah Lash knew from a young age that she wanted to be a composer, but she hadn't yet learned how to read or write music. So, Hannah developed her own system for writing music using triangles, squiggles, and x's. On today's show, hear pianist Jeremy Denk and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra play "In Pursuit of Flying," by American composer Hannah Lash.

This annual award recognizes women who have made a significant contribution to the art form or inspired a nominator's appreciation for classical 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...and not even a pandemic will keep us from doing it again this year! We're thrilled to kick off this year's series with French horn player Lauren Anker.

When Napoleon's army attacked Vienna in 1809, Beethoven took cover in a basement. When he emerged, he found that his piano and the music he'd been working on were still intact. He got right back to it and finished the piece. On today's show, hear a composition that survived Napoleon troops: the Piano Concerto No. 5, widely known as the Emperor Concerto, by Ludwig van Beethoven..

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 Lauren Anker.

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...and not even a pandemic will keep us from doing it again this year! Today, we're thrilled to kick off this year's series with French horn player Lauren Anker.

We're proud to introduce you to horn player Lauren Anker, the first of our 2021 Young Artists in Residence. Lauren recently joined us from Houston for conversation and music. You can hear it all here!