Performance Today®

James Price Johnson was a pianist and composer who helped invent the style of "stride piano." He and George Gershwin knew and respected each other's work, but Johnson thought Gershwin didn't get jazz quite right in Rhapsody in Blue. On Today's show, hear Johnson's musical response, a piece called Yamekraw. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler!

Working with a spouse might be fun and convenient...and challenging. Pianist Lucille Chung is married to her duo partner, Alessio Bax, and the arrangement couldn't have worked out better for them, as well as their audience. On today's show, Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung play their own arrangement of Milonga del Angel by Astor Piazzolla.

La Valse by Maurice Ravel is a reflection of the uncertainty and anxiety that was heavy in the air after World War One. It can also feel like a reflection of our times, here and now. On today's show, hear the beauty, the whimsy, and the unraveling...pianist David Fung plays La Valse by Maurice Ravel, from a concert in Athens, Georgia.

James Price Johnson was a pianist and composer who helped invent the style of "stride piano." He and George Gershwin knew and respected each other's work, but Johnson thought Gershwin didn't get jazz quite right in Rhapsody in Blue. On Today's show, hear Johnson's musical response, a piece called Yamekraw.

Join us for a mix of classical favorites and new discoveries. On today's show, hear a flowing, atmospheric piece of music: Aeolian Dust by American composer Natalie Dietterich. Plus music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Josef Suk, and more.

An Tran's childhood in Vietnam is reflected in his music, with sonic images that convey the beauty of his home country. On today's show, meet guitarist An Tran and hear his musical memories of Vietnam.

Guitarist An Tran has a treasured photograph. In it, he is a young child and his parents are lifting him high overhead at their home in Vietnam. He remembers that at that moment his parents were singing what he describes as "the most beautiful melody ever:" a Vietnamese folk song translated as "Stay, My Beloved." It was a grounding moment in Tran's childhood and the song is the backbone of his new album, "Stay, My Beloved."

Composer Stephen Paulus had a long and close relationship with the Minnesota Orchestra until his untimely death in 2014. The orchestra continues to honor his his profound impact on music. On today's show, hear the Minnesota Orchestra play 'Impassioned' from Stephen Paulus's Symphony in Three Movements.

In the summer 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first two humans to walk on the moon. On today's show, hear a piece written just last year by Marc Mellits, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.