Performance Today®

Among our listeners, it's the most talked about piece of music: Bolero, by Maurice Ravel. You know it, you love it...unless you don't, of course. We'll hear a new take on the piece and keep the conversation going. Who needs a snare drum and a full orchestra? Bolero, played by the Decoda Cello Quartet, on this episode of Performance Today.

Composer Matthew Jackfert spent six months in the seaside city of Qingdao, China. Memories of the waves and wind and local culture stuck with him. On this episode of Performance Today, hear "On the Shores of Qingdao," by Matthew Jackfert, from a concert by the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra.

On today's show, we'll usher in 2021 with a celebratory Dance of the Hours, courtesy of the US Marine Band. We'll also hear all-star performance of Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio, from a concert in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

When Maurice Ravel wrote Gaspard de la Nuit, he was trying to make it the most difficult piano music ever written... perhaps even unplayable. On today's show, Benjamin Grosvenor plays the unplayable in a concert presented by Capital Region Classical in Schenectady, NY.

Composer Matthew Jackfert spent six months in the seaside city of Qingdao, China. Memories of the waves and wind and local culture stuck with him. On this episode of Performance Today, hear "On the Shores of Qingdao," by Matthew Jackfert, from a concert by the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra.

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.

In 1922, Danish composer Carl Nielsen was working on a piece for wind quintet when he had an idea. He turned a simple hymn tune of his into a theme with wide variety of variations... one of which even imitates the sound of bagpipes! On today's show, experience the dynamic moods and sounds of Nielsen's Wind Quintet, from a concert presented by Camerata Pacifica.

Some unforgettable musicians passed away in 2020...guitarist Julian Bream, cellist Lynn Harrell, soprano Mirella Freni - just to name a few. On today's show, join us for a special hour to honor and remember some of those we've lost over this past year.

For Christmas Day, we're playing some of the best holiday music... you might even find yourself joining the chorus. Tune in for Christmas and holiday music from concerts around the world. Happy Holidays from all of us at Performance Today!