Performance Today®

In 1878, Johannes Brahms dedicated his first (and only) violin concerto to his friend, violinist Joseph Joachim. Joachim loved it, calling it one of the four great German violin concertos. On today's show, hear violinist Vadim Gluzman play that Brahms concerto in concert with the Oregon Symphony.

The pandemic has profoundly affected the musical world, with concerts and festivals having been cancelled worldwide. There is hope though...in some places, concerts with audiences are safely back underway. On today's show, hear a highlight from a concert presented just last month by the Taipei Music Academy & Festival.

In 2014, composer Jonathan Bailey Holland was grappling with profound sadness about the number of Black Americans killed by police. He couldn't express his feelings in words, so he turned to music. On today's show, hear the world premiere concert performance of Dream Elegy by Jonathan Bailey Holland.

When Marie Therese Coin Coin was granted her freedom in 1778, she used her business skills to become a landowner, with the goal of purchasing her children's freedom. Composer Jason Moran is Coin Coin's great-great-grand-nephew. On today's show, hear the Imani Winds play "Cane" by Jason Moran - music inspired by Maran's family history.

In 2015, nine people were killed at a church in Charleston, SC. On today's show, the Dallas Winds plays a piece written to honor the lives of those who died: Of Our New Day Begun, by Omar Thomas.

Join us for a concert highlight from from the base of the Teton Range in Wyoming. On today's show, conductor Donald Runnicles leads the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

A few weeks ago, the Lakes Area Music Festival in Minnesota did an online concert with a theme of remembering those we've lost due to the pandemic. On today's show, join us for a highlight from that concert: Requiem Milonga by Valerie Coleman.

In 2015, nine people were killed at a church in Charleston, SC. On today's show, the Dallas Winds plays a piece written to honor the lives of those who died: Of Our New Day Begun, by Omar Thomas.

Composer Joel Puckett's grandfather-in-law always had the right line of poetry for any situation...including his poignant final words. On this episode of Performance Today, hear music inspired by the final words of a loved one: It Perched for Vespers Nine, by Joel Puckett.