American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Conductor Michael Morgan died two weeks ago, at the age of 63. He spoke with us last year, and said: "I think the best thing that one can do...is to be remembered for passing it forward...and that's really what I want to be known for in the end." And he passed SO much forward. Remembering conductor Michael Morgan, on this episode of Performance Today, from APM.
Composer Meira Warshauer loves Mozart's Symphony No. 40, but for her it feels incomplete...so she wrote her own piece to resolve a few spiritual and musical questions. On today's show, hear the Western Piedmont Symphony play Meira Warshauer's response and tribute to Mozart: As the Waters Cover the Sea.
Composer Louise Farrenc grew up in Paris in the early 1800s. She had a great career as a pianist and composer, and she was hired as a professor...but at half the pay as men doing the same work. Louise Farrenc fought for and GOT equal pay. We'll hear chamber music by Louise Farrenc, on this edition of Performance Today, from APM.
In the early 1970s, two Juilliard students met and became close friends. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax. Their friendship has spanned almost half a century now, and their musical collaborations go back more than 40 years. On today's show, Fred Child talks to Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma about music and emotions, and we'll hear from their brand new album Hope Amid Tears.
We don't toss the word "virtuoso" around casually, but in some cases, it clearly applies. On today's episode, join us for virtuosic performance by Alexander Gavrylyuk - who, by the way, would like to redefine what we mean by the word 'virtuoso.'
Composer David Kirkland Garner began writing a piece to honor a particular fiddler's legacy, but, as he found out more, he began moving in a very different direction. On today's show, hear a fiddle tune that's been demolished, transformed, and rebuilt: CROW by David Kirkland Garner.
Antonin Dvorak didn't like having a reputation as a composer of light, charming, toe-tapping tunes. He wanted to create something profound. With that in mind, he began composing a new symphony, and he wrote to a friend: "...this (piece) must shake the world!" Experience the earth-shaking Symphony No. 7, by Dvorak, on this episode of Performance Today.
English composer Ruth Gipps was born in 1921. She composed music throughout her life, but she was also a champion of 20th century music. Gipps founded two orchestras that focussed on music by living composers, and she fought for the place of women among contemporary composers, conductors and performers right up until her death in 1999. On today's show, hear a piece that conductor Jessica Horsley describes as "...the sort of music that just makes everything alright in the world. It heals all wounds", the Symphony No. 2 by Ruth Gipps.
Composer David Kirkland Garner began writing a piece to honor a particular fiddler's legacy, but, as he found out more, he began moving in a very different direction. On today's show, hear a fiddle tune that's been demolished, transformed, and rebuilt: CROW by David Kirkland Garner.
