Performance Today®

In 1976, composer Rebecca Clarke was interviewed about a former classmate of hers, the great pianist Myra Hess. The interview revealed some surprising information: turns out, Rebecca Clarke was the big story right under everyone's nose. Rebecca Clarke's big reveal, on this edition of Performance Today.

In 2010, the home of the Nashville Symphony suffered massive flood damage. Despite losses, the Nashville Symphony became a symbol of recovery, and the concert hall was brought back to life in less than 8 months. On today's show, hear the Nashville Symphony perform music by Debussy, from a concert at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville.

Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concerto de Aranjuez" may be the most popular guitar concerto of all time. Even if you don't think you know it, there's a good chance you've at least heard some of it. In today's show, hear guitarist Chaconne Klaverenga play Rodrigo's concerto with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra.

There's a photo of a young boy in an abandoned train station in Albania. The boy turns an old water bottle into a toy and he's lost in his world of play, despite the refugee crisis going on around him. On today's show, hear music inspired by that photo, "A Boy with a Makeshift Toy" by Armenian-American composer Mary Kouyoumdjian.

On this episode of Performance Today, hear a small herd of contented cellos perform Joseph Jongen's "Two Pieces for Four Cellos," from a concert at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's piano puzzler.

He was a poet, a lover, and a provocateur. The words of Walt Whitman speak to us as Americans and as human beings. On this episode of Performance Today, join us for music that celebrates the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman's birth.

When violinist Alexi Kenney was a boy, he wanted to play the tambourine or the triangle, but his mother got him going in a different direction. On this episode of Performance Today, we go back to 2015 when Alexi Kenney was a PT Young Artist in Residence.

On this episode of Performance Today, hear a small herd of contented cellos perform Joseph Jongen's "Two Pieces for Four Cellos," from a concert at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's piano puzzler.

Franz Schubert wrote a fantasy so demanding and difficult that he himself was unable to play it. Never fear - we'll hear from a pianist who can! On this episode of Performance Today, Juho Pohjonen gives a virtuosic performance of the Wanderer Fantasy in concert at the Music@Menlo Festival.