Performance Today®

Joel Revzen is one of our heroes. He was Artistic Director and Conductor of Classical Tahoe until his death in May of 2020, due to complications of COVID-19. Revzen's wife, Cindy Rhys, recalls, "He had the heart of an adventurer...with boundless generosity, ready to take anyone on that adventure with him. He made music from the heart, and he led from the heart." On today's show, hear Joel Revzen lead from the heart, conducting the Classical Tahoe Orchestra in the last two movements Brahm's Symphony No. 1.

Great music has no borders. On today's show, let's travel to Taiwan to hear Japanese euphonium player Misa Mead plays an Appalachian "Hootenanny" by Matthew Jackfert.

The Shanghai Chinese Orchestra are not like a standard Western orchestra - they play traditional Chinese instruments. They are dedicated to traditional Chinese music AND music by young composers. On today's show, hear the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra play "Homeland" by Yunfei Wang, from a recent concert in Shanghai.

A concerto usually features one soloist on one instrument, but composer Jennifer Higdon has a concerto that features a single soloist on about THIRTY instruments. On today's show, hear Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto, with Cameron Leach dashing from instrument to instrument, on stage with the Dallas Winds.

Violinist Ray Chen is often up for new challenges. He has has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and is a pioneer in how musicians are interacting these days. On today's show, hear selections from Ray Chen's new album Solace, recorded at his home in Taiwan.

Mike Begay is an Indigenous American composer from the Dine nation. He has a new podcast profiling teenage Indigenous composers as they develop their works from page to stage. On today's show, hear music and stories from the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project.

Harry Burleigh was the first black composer to help develop a characteristically American style of music. He wrote the first formal orchestral arrangements for more than 100 Negro spirituals. On today's show, violinist Samuel Nebyu and pianist Bethany Brooks play a piece Burleigh wrote in 1916: Four Southland Sketches.

Fanny Mendelssohn wrote an overture when she was around 25 years old, but her manuscript sat in a library in Germany for over 150 years. In the 1990s, the piece was resurrected and it's been played around the world ever since. On today's show, hear the Overture in C Major by Fanny Mendelssohn, from a concert in Charleston, South Carolina.

A concerto usually features one soloist on one instrument, but composer Jennifer Higdon has a concerto that features a single soloist on about THIRTY instruments. On today's show, hear Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto, with Cameron Leach dashing from instrument to instrument, on stage with the Dallas Winds.