Performance Today®

In 1933, Florence Price became the first female African American composer to have her work performed by a major symphony orchestra. When she died, boxes of music remained in her house, which was then abandoned for almost 50 years. Recently, a trove of works by Price has been rediscovered. On today's show, hear about the remarkable discovery and revival of Florence Price's music.

When Claude Debussy wrote music for the ballet "Jeux," he was picturing a game of tennis between two women and one young man. In tennis, "love" means nothing; in Debussy's music, love is everything. On today's episode, we'll hear romance and seduction on the courts, from a concert by the New York Philharmonic.

Beethoven did his groundbreaking work two centuries ago, and to this day, musicians are finding new interpretations and new inspiration in his music. On Today's show, join us for two new takes on Beethoven. One reverential, and one that's pure whimsy.

The members of an ensemble called A Far Cry are strong believers in musical democracy. They rotate leadership roles among all of the players; those personalities make their concerts refreshing and unexpected and vibrant. On today's show, hear A Far Cry play music by Philip Glass, from a concert in Rockport, Massachusetts.

When Claude Debussy wrote music for the ballet "Jeux," he was picturing a game of tennis between two women and one young man. In tennis, "love" means nothing; in Debussy's music, love is everything. On today's episode, we'll hear romance and seduction on the courts, from a concert by the New York Philharmonic.

Hungarian composer Bela Bartok was one of the founders of the field of ethnomusicology. He traveled the dusty back roads of Hungary and Romania, recording tens of thousands of folk songs, and that work inspired many of his own compositions. On today's episode, join us for Bartok's Hungarian Folk Tunes, from a concert at the Music@Menlo festival.

From ev'ry mountainside, Let freedom ring! On Memorial Day, we remember the people who've made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the American Armed Forces. Today, we honor those who preserve our freedom with music.

Public graduation ceremonies are almost universally cancelled this year, so we're throwing a radio party with music to celebrate this rite of passage, and some special messages for this year's graduates. On this episode of Performance Today, we're honoring the graduating class of 2020. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler.

When Antonio Pompa-Baldi was four years old, his mother signed him up for piano lessons, but the teacher told Antonio he was too young. Antonio burst into tears, and then went on to prove himself. Now 40 years later, he has made a lively career for himself as a pianist. On today's show, we'll hear from a recent concert Antonio Pompa-Baldi gave during the Southeastern Piano Festival, in Columbia, South Carolina.