Performance Today®

We received over 120 nominations for our inaugural award celebrating the impact of women on classical music and music lovers. Read about the winner, the six finalists, and all of the nominees.

If pianist Francesco Piemontesi could take a time machine back to any point in history, he'd choose to go back to the 19th century to hang out with Franz Liszt. For now, Piemontesi settles for playing Liszt's music. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Piemontesi in concert, playing a selection from "Years of Pilgrimage," Franz Liszt's set of three suites for solo piano.

There's a photo from 1961 of Fidel Castro is sitting in a restaurant with his guards and four musicians who might be just a little tense. That photo inspired a new piece of music. On this episode of Performance Today, join us for a ROCO performance of "Dance Unlikely" by Ricardo Lorenz.

Tessa Lark is an acclaimed classical violinist, but she's also highly adept at other musical traditions. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Tessa Lark perform her "Appalachian Fantasy," new music with classical and folk roots.

Antonin Dvorak wrote his marvelous Bagatelles as a gift for a dear friend. He never meant them for public performance. Lucky for us, they escaped to the wider world. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear Dvorak's Bagatelles from a concert presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

Can you imagine your birthday being declared a national holiday? On December 8th, 1915, Jean Sibelius turned 50 and premiered his fifth symphony. The citizens of Finland took the day off to celebrate. On this edition of Performance Today, we'll hear conductor Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra play Sibelius's Symphony No. 5, a work that the Finnish government commissioned Sibelius to write in honor of his own birthday.

In 2004, the executor of an estate in Switzerland found a dusty old book of hand-written music... that he recognized! It was the score that Sergei Rachmaninoff had used to conduct the premiere of his Symphony No. 2 in 1908. On this episode of Performance Today, get the story and hear the Houston Symphony play Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.

Antonin Dvorak wrote his marvelous Bagatelles as a gift for a dear friend. He never meant them for public performance. Lucky for us, they escaped to the wider world. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear Dvorak's Bagatelles from a concert presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

When you're far away, fighting a war, what do you write to your family back home? Do you mention the terrible things you see, or do you simply reassure your family that you're okay? On this episode of Performance Today, hear music inspired by letters from the trenches of World War One: Jonathan Leshnoff's Symphony No. 3.