Performance Today®

100 years ago, the 19th amendment for the U.S. Constitution was ratified, and women in this country finally won the right to vote. The determination and resilience of the suffragettes inspired future generations, and also inspired music. On today's show, we celebrate with music inspired by the women's suffrage movement.

In the late 1980s, American composer Aaron Jay Kernis heard music written by Hildegard von Bingen more than 800 years ago. Kernis was struck by the powerful simplicity and sheer beauty of that music. On today's show, hear Aaron Jay Kernis's Musica Celestis. It's simply beautiful.

American composer Michael Abels has been getting a lot of attention in the past few years; in particular, for his movie music. He's in high demand after scoring Jordan Peele's satire horror films Get Out and Us. On today's show, hear Abels's Delights and Dances, from a concert presented by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Composer Wayne Shorter is fascinated by the metaphorical idea of terra incognita, the undiscovered territory in ourselves... and the courage that it takes to explore that territory. On Today's show, hear Imani Winds play Shorter's Terra Incognita at a concert presented by the University of Chicago.

The young Beethoven borrowed a song that everybody was singing in Vienna, a tune from a popular opera. Beethoven made it very much his own by writing nine playful variations. On today's show, hear an all-star performance of Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio, from a concert in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Clara Schumann was one of the great pianists of her time. She was also a talented composer, but sadly she chose to stop writing music... a male-dominated society had led her to believe that women shouldn't be composers. On Today's show, hear one of the last things Clara Schumann wrote: Three Romances for violin and piano, from a concert presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

Her name was Dulcinea, and she is the inspiration in one of the great stories of all time: Don Quixote by Cervantes. Dulcinea doesn't even appear in the novel, but just the idea of her fuels everything that Don Quixote does. On this episode of Performance Today, tune in for "Don Quixote y Dulcinea" by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ranki.

American composer Michael Abels has been getting a lot of attention in the past few years; in particular, for his movie music. He's in high demand after scoring Jordan Peele's satire horror films Get Out and Us. On today's show, hear one of Abels's orchestral pieces: Delights and Dances, from a concert presented by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

In 2013, Lee Pringle founded the Colour of Music Festival. The festival highlights the significance and impact of composers and musicians of African descent. On today's show, hear Voices Shouting Out by American composer Nkeiru Okoye, performed by the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.