Performance Today®

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.

Composer Lowell Liebermann was haunted for years by a Bach fugue that spun around and around in his head. Then he was asked to write a new piece for a concert that just happened to fall on Bach's birthday. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear Liebermann's twist on Bach's Fugue, from a concert in Colorado Springs.

Years ago, pianist Jeremy Denk was a PT Young Artist in Residence. Since then, he's gone on to have a stellar career, including receiving a MacArthur Genius Grant and concert appearances around the world. On this episode of Performance Today, we take you to a concert in Minneapolis to hear Jeremy Denk play the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D Minor by J.S. Bach.

Maybe you've thought about what music you'd want played at your funeral. A favorite song? A beloved hymn? Composer Astor Piazzolla had something different in mind. On this episode of Performance Today, hear the Imani Winds play the music that Piazzolla selected for his own funeral.

Composer Lowell Liebermann was haunted for years by a J.S. Bach fugue that spun around and around in his head. Then he was asked to write a new piece for a concert that just happened to fall on Bach's birthday. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear Liebermann's twist on Bach's fugue, from a concert in Colorado Springs.

Mozart Guarnieri's father was an opera buff who named his kids after composers... his brothers were named Rossine and Verde. On this episode of Performance today, take a seat at Lincoln Center for a performance of "Three Dances for Orchestra" by Brazilian composer Mozart Camargo Guarnieri.

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.

Fanny Mendelssohn wrote more than 500 pieces of music, and she also was a conductor. One musician recalled, "A gesture of her little finger ran like an electric shock through our souls." More about the multi-talented Fanny Mendelssohn this edition of Performance Today.

Robin Kesselman plays Principal Double Bass in the Houston Symphony, but Kesselman recently stood front and center to play a double bass concerto. Kesselman told the Houston Chronicle that moments like that "only happen a few times a career." On this episode of Performance Today, hear Robin Kesselman and the Houston Symphony perform the Concerto for Double Bass by Serge Koussevitzky.