Performance Today®

In 1867, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote a play about a young man who spends his life avoiding responsibility. The play features amorous milkmaids, a runaway bride, a cave full of trolls, and a sojourn in the deserts of Egypt. The drama never became one of Ibsen's biggest hits, but the music that Edvard Grieg wrote for it did. On today's show, hear Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, performed by the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra.

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero's family emigrated from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, where he began his musical journey as an percussionist with the Costa Rican Youth Symphony. On today's show, Guerrero conducts the Nashville Symphony in a performance of Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole. Nick Canellakis guest hosts.

Euphonium soloist Demondrae Thurman premiered a concerto by Anthony Barfield in 2014. On today's show, Thurman tells us about his special musical connection with Barfield's piece, and hear him perform Barfield's Heritage Concerto with the Indiana University Wind Ensemble, from a recent concert in Carmel, Indiana.

Trumpeter Ansel Norris says "The trumpet is an unruly beast that must be coaxed into a calm and agreeable state... Some days it comes very naturally, and others it requires a bit more wrangling." Norris certainly wrangled his unruly trumpet during the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition finals. On today's show, hear him at that competition, playing Rodion Shchedrin's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra.

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero's family emigrated from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, where he began his musical journey as an percussionist with the Costa Rican Youth Symphony. On today's show, Guerrero conducts the Nashville Symphony in a performance of Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole. Nick Canellakis guest hosts.

In 1955, archaeologists discovered an old stone tablet in Syria. Etched on the surface is one of the earliest forms of music notation. Malek Jandali used that ancient system, known as the Hurrian songs, as the inspiration for a new piece. On today's show, composer and pianist Malek Jandali performs Piano Dreams with the Apollo Chamber Players at a concert in Houston.

Violinist Hilary Hahn usually appears as a soloist, but she loves chamber music and occasionally teams up with other all-stars for some musical fun. On today's show, we'll go to a concert at the Skaneateles Festival for a rare chamber performance by Hilary Hahn and friends.

Violinist Nicola Benedetti says that when composer Wynton Marsalis wrote her a new piece, he wasn't worried about anybody's expectations but his own. Benedetti told us "It is very genuinely and definitively HIM." On today's show, Nicola Benedetti plays the new Violin Concerto in D by Wynton Marsalis.

Florence Price's Piano Concerto has only been performed a handful of times. Pianist Michelle Cann wants to change that, and she commissioned a new version for piano quintet. It's intimate and powerful, and we can't wait to share it with you. On today's show, hear this new arrangement of the Piano Concerto by Florence Price.