Performance Today®

The Minnesota Orchestra played a concert in the middle of March, with no audience in the house, but live on stage and live on the radio. On today's show, we have the story, then hear pianist Kirill Gerstein play Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 with the Minnesota Orchestra and conductor Juanjo Mena, all for an empty hall.

American composer Paul Wiancko wrote a piece named LIFT, his own personal "ode to joy...a journey of the soul." On this episode of Performance Today, hear the Aizuri Quartet give an inspired performance of LIFT by Paul Wiancko.

Composer Jim Stephenson grew up watching his father build model trains. They were detailed, realistic models, and each train car had its own personality. He was inspired by those vintage model trains when he wrote a piece for the ensemble ROCO. On today's show, hear ROCOmotive, by Jim Stephenson, from a ROCO concert in Houston, Texas.

In 1942, the Russian city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) was under siege by the German army. Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 was defiantly broadcast on loudspeakers to show the German troops that the Russian people would not be silenced. On today's show, hear the final movement of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad", from a concert by the Minnesota Orchestra.

On today's show, meet a recent PT Young Artist in Residence, violinist Geneva Lewis. Geneva joins Fred Child for music and conversation at Performance Today's studio in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Last year, in our Young Artist Series, we introduced you to Jordan Bak, an incredibly talented young violist with a bright personality... and he continues to bloom. On this episode of Performance Today, hear violist Jordan Bak's performance in the final round at the Sphinx Competition.

The harp has a reputation for sounding light and beautiful, but in the right hands, a harp can express any emotion. On today's episode, hear the powerful, propulsive side of the harp. Harpist Ann Hobson Pilot and the English Chamber Orchestra perform Alberto Ginastera's Harp Concerto.

In 1722, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a massive set of 24 preludes and fugues; one for every major and minor key. 20 years later, he did the same thing AGAIN. On today's show, hear pianist Stephen Prutsman play the Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp minor from Book Two of the Well-Tempered Clavier, by J.S. Bach.

Fanny Mendelssohn wrote more than 500 pieces of music, and she also was a conductor. One musician recalled, "A gesture of her little finger ran like an electric shock through our souls." On today's show, hear a piece that she wrote when she was 28 years old, Fanny Mendelssohn's colorful and expressive String Quartet in E-flat major.