Performance Today®

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.

The young Jean Sibelius had one dream in life: to be a professional violinist. After he auditioned and failed to win a place in the Vienna Philharmonic, he was heartbroken. But he turned his love for the violin into creative energy. On today's show, hear Finnish violinist Elina Vahala and the Buffalo Philharmonic in a stunning performance of the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius.

Our planet is teeming with life, and the rainforests are the lungs of the earth. Composer Meira Warshauer was moved by that image and the threats our natural world faces when she wrote her first symphony. It's a musical prayer for healing, for our home. On today's show, hear Warshauer's Symphony No. 1 "Living Breathing Earth", from a performance by the Western Piedmont Symphony in Hickory, NC.

Composer Jimmy López Bellido was working on a piece when his father unexpectedly died. Suddenly, the music had deeper meaning for Lopez; he said it came to represent his father's transcendental journey. On today's show, hear Guardian of the Horizon by Jimmy López Bellido, from a concert presented by the St Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Yunnan Province is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in China, and it has a rich and varied musical history. On this episode of Performance Today, hear music inspired by field recordings of folk music from Yunnan Province, from a recent concert in Shanghai, China.

Pianist Imogen Cooper has had a tremendous career for more than 50 years now. But looking back, she'd like to tell her younger self to "be courageous. Feel the fear. And do it anyway." On today's episode, hear about Imogen Cooper's life lessons, and then a Haydn piano sonata from a concert at Spivey Hall in Morrow, Georgia.

Composer Jimmy López Bellido was working on a piece when his father unexpectedly died. Suddenly, the music had deeper meaning for Lopez; he said it came to represent his father's transcendental journey. On today's show, hear Guardian of the Horizon by Jimmy López Bellido, from a concert presented by the St Paul Chamber Orchestra.

In 1936, Carlos Chavez wrote a symphony based on the melodies and percussive sounds of Mexican indigenous music, and now his piece is played around the world. On today's show, hear the Polish Radio Orchestra play Chavez's Symphony No. 2 (the Sinfonia India), from a concert in Warsaw, Poland.

He's an avid surfer and violinist. He's led the Australian Chamber Orchestra for 32 years. And in Australia, he's been officially named a National Living Treasure. On today's episode, violinist Richard Tognetti leads a gorgeous performance of The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams.