Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Young Artist in Residence: Avery Gagliano

Young Artist in Residence: Avery Gagliano

Pianist Avery Gagliano is the next of our 2024 cohort of PT Young Artists in Residence. Avery recently joined Fred Child in our St. Paul studio—hear their music and the entire interview here!

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Meet Avery Gagliano

Meet Avery Gagliano

We're pleased to introduce our next 2024 PT Young Artist in Residence: pianist Avery Gagliano. Avery joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our Saint Paul studio on today's show. 

PT Weekend: Hindemith's inventive twists

PT Weekend: Hindemith's inventive twists

In 1940, Paul Hindemith wrote a piece music based on themes written more than a century earlier by Carl Maria von Weber. He kept Weber's basic ideas intact but gave them some inventive 20th-century twists. Hear that piece on today's show: the ‘Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber’ by Paul Hindemith, from a concert in Taipei, Taiwan.

James Ehnes and the Grand Teton Music Festival

James Ehnes and the Grand Teton Music Festival

Violinist James Ehnes absolutely loves playing at the Grand Teton Music Festival. He says, "The physical beauty is beyond description, and the quality of music-making defies rational explanation." On today's show, we'll take you to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to hear Ehnes play Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1. 

Danielpour: Breaking the Veil

Danielpour: Breaking the Veil

Composer Richard Danielpour found musical inspiration in a sculpture made by his mother—an image of an Iranian woman breaking away from her veil. He contemplated recent protests in Iran, led by young women who want to choose whether to wear a headscarf. On today's show, we'll hear music inspired by the brave women of Iran: Breaking the Veil by Richard Danielpour.

Hindemith's inventive twists

Hindemith's inventive twists

In 1940, Paul Hindemith wrote a piece music based on themes written more than a century earlier by Carl Maria von Weber. He kept Weber's basic ideas intact but gave them some inventive 20th-century twists. Hear that piece on today's show: the ‘Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber’ by Paul Hindemith, from a concert in Taipei, Taiwan.

Juantio Becenti

Juantio Becenti

On today's show, we'll hear some fascinating new music by Navajo composer Juantio Becenti. Becenti found a unique parallel between the Navajo creation story and his own musical journey. Join us to hear the ensemble A Far Cry play The Glittering World by Juantio Becenti at a concert in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Franz Doppler: Souvenir de Rigi

Franz Doppler: Souvenir de Rigi

Imagine we’re strolling in a sunny meadow in the Swiss Alps. Birds call from overhead, boat horns echo from nearby lakes, and a gentle cow joins our walk with her bell chiming along the way. On today's show, hear a piece that Franz Doppler wrote with the intent of capturing that idyllic scene.

PT Weekend: Courtney Bryan

PT Weekend: Courtney Bryan

Pianist and composer Courtney Bryan recently wrote a piece that she says is a love letter to all the pianists who have inspired her. The music depicts a house where pianists hang out, talk, and jam. Tune in to hear Courtney Bryan play the world premiere of her new piano concerto, House of Pianos, backed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and conductor Louis Langree.