Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Alexander Sitkovetsky

Alexander Sitkovetsky

It's one of the first exercises you learn to play on an instrument, one of the basic ways to build technique... and, it's awfully tempting to skip while practicing. Alexander Sitkovetsky shares his most valuable practice tip, on this weekend's Performance Today.

The elephant in the room

The elephant in the room

Is it a tree? Is it a silk cloth? Is it a whip? It's music inspired by a famous parable about perspective. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll take you to a concert in Portland, Oregon, to hear "Aspects of an Elephant" by American composer Kenji Bunch.

Cellos unite

Cellos unite

On Thursday's 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.

Alexander Sitkovetsky

Alexander Sitkovetsky

It's one of the first exercises you learn to play on an instrument, one of the basic ways to build technique... and, it's awfully tempting to skip while practicing. Alexander Sitkovetsky shares his most valuable practice tip, on Wednesday's Performance Today.

Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 5

Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 5

Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote his Symphony No. 5 in the early 1920s. It's a musical illustration of the eternal battle between darkness and light. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Nielsen's Fifth Symphony from a recent concert in Ireland.

Quartet San Francisco

Quartet San Francisco

Jeremy Cohen, of Quartet San Francisco, says that one of their most popular pieces is a Michael Jackson medley. On Monday's Performance Today, Quartet San Francisco performs the medley at a concert in Edgartown, Massachusetts - on Martha's Vineyard.

Philip Glass: "Annunciation" Piano Quintet

Philip Glass: "Annunciation" Piano Quintet

Philip Glass is 81 years old, and has been an active composer for nearly 60 years. For Glass, the years mean nothing; the thrill of creating music -- and then hearing it performed -- never gets old. On this weekend's edition of Performance Today, hear the world premiere performance of the "Annunciation" Piano Quintet by Philip Glass, performed by pianist Paul Barnes and the Chiara Quartet.

Maurice Greene: Handel's frenemy

Maurice Greene: Handel's frenemy

Composer Maurice Greene and George Frederic Handel had a relatively pleasant relationship... until Greene got a job that Handel had wanted. On Friday's Performance Today, music by Maurice Greene, frenemy of George Frederic Handel.

Taneyev: Symphony No. 4

Taneyev: Symphony No. 4

Sergey Taneyev's Symphony No. 4 is a great piece of Romantic Russian music, and it's not played nearly often enough. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra play it in concert in Rotterdam.

YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00