Performance Today®

Composer Julia Perry suffered a stroke in 1971 which left her right side paralyzed. Being right-handed, she lost her ability to write... until she taught herself to write with her left hand. On this episode of Performance Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Julia Perry.

American composer Jennifer Higdon won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for her Violin Concerto. Now she's written a new piece for solo harp and orchestra. On this episode of Performance Today, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and the Rochester Philharmonic play Jennifer Higdon's Harp Concerto.

For years, Jaakko Kuusisto has been meaning to write a concerto that would show off his skills on the violin. He hasn't done that quite yet, but he has written a piece for his friend, violinist Elina Vahala. On this episode of Performance Today, Elina Vahala, backed by the Minnesota Orchestra, play the fiery Violin Concerto by Jaakko Kuusisto.

With the right kind of radio you can sometimes hear the sound of nearby lightning. Some of those sounds are called whistler waves. On this episode of Performance Today, hear a new concerto by Caroline Mallonee, inspired by lightning...and whistler waves.

When guitarist Jason Vieaux was preparing for his debut with the Nashville Symphony, he told Nashville Public Radio "This is the most time I've ever spent on any piece of music, ever...That's how hard it is." On this episode of Performance Today, hear Jason Vieaux and the Nashville Symphony play the Concerto for Guitar by Jonathan Leshnoff.

Gil Shaham first played Prokofiev's second violin concerto when he was thirteen. 35 years later, he's still playing it. He says "Every note is perfectly placed, and surprising at the same time. It's a miracle of a piece." On this episode of Performance Today, we take you to a concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles to hear Gil Shaham and the LA Phil play Prokofiev's "miracle."

We've all heard the phrase "all of a sudden." Composer Michael Kurth wonders if we could add some more gradations and subtlety to that. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Kurth's string quartet titled "Some of a Sudden."

In 1874, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov traveled to the northern coast of the Black Sea. The trip left a lasting impression on the composer; he was intoxicated by the Arabic and Turkish music he heard on the streets and in coffee houses. On this episode of Performance Today, we hear these exotic impressions in a concert performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

When composer Jessie Montgomery inherited an eclectic record collection and one track caught her attention, a traditional lullaby from Angola. On this episode of Performance Today, hear an adaptation of that Angolan lullaby in Records from a Vanishing City, by Jessie Montgomery.