Performance Today®

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.

Her name was Dulcinea, and she is the inspiration in one of the great stories of all time: Don Quixote by Cervantes. Dulcinea doesn't even appear in the novel, but just the idea of her fuels everything that Don Quixote does. On this episode of Performance Today, tune in for "Don Quixote y Dulcinea" by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ranki.

Erie. Superior. Michigan. Huron. Ontario. Each of the Great Lakes has a distinct personality. Jeremy Turner was inspired by family vacations at the Great Lakes when he wrote a piece for mandolin and violin. On this episode of Performance Today, Chris Thile and James Ehnes play 'The Inland Seas' by Jeremy Turner.

Composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen says that he loves to take risks, even to teeter on the brink of losing control. On this episode of Performance Today, the L.A. Philharmonic plays the world premiere of Pollux, by thrill-seeker Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Erie. Superior. Michigan. Huron. Ontario. Each of the Great Lakes has a distinct personality. Jeremy Turner was inspired by family vacations at the Great Lakes when he wrote a piece for mandolin and violin. On this episode of Performance Today, Chris Thile and James Ehnes play 'The Inland Seas' by Jeremy Turner.

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 virtuoso performance of the Wanderer Fantasy in concert at the Music@Menlo Festival.

Join us for a musical New Year's celebration! We'll usher in 2019 with a celebratory Trumpet Concerto by Johann Neruda, and sample a bit of musical champagne, courtesy of Johann Strauss Jr. Music for the New Year, on this edition of Performance Today.

Molly Yeh grew up surrounded by music... she went to the Juilliard School to pursue a musical career, but then found her calling as a food writer and cookbook author. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we meet Molly Yeh at her farm on the high prairie, and she tells us what she'd make if Mozart came over for dinner.

In 2011, Philip Glass composed a seven movement piece specifically for violinist Tim Fain. Last year, Fain stopped by the PT studios and played some of it just for us. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Tim Fain perform the opening movement of Partita for Solo Violin by Philip Glass.