Performance Today®

In 2022, the Apollo Chamber Players commissioned a work by composer Wang Jie. Wang Jie, also trained as an organist, wrote the piece for the unusual combination of pipe organ and string quartet. On today's show, we'll hear the Apollo Chamber Players and organist Daryl Robinson play the world premiere of The Night When You See Again by Wang Jie.

The great American writer James Baldwin was born 100 years ago. Baldwin's writing, and even much of his life, was connected to music. He once wrote, "Life comes out of music, and music comes out of life: without trusting the first, it is impossible to create the second." Join us today for a tribute to James Baldwin and what it means to be an artist and human being.

When Alexander Scriabin was 20 years old, he was working on playing an extraordinarily demanding piece by Franz Liszt. He pushed himself so hard that he permanently injured his right hand. Scriabin adapted by creating music that is technically demanding, emotional…and particularly demanding for the left hand. Join us today to hear pianist Ilya Yakushev play 'Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand Alone’ by Alexander Scriabin.

In 2022, the Apollo Chamber Players commissioned a work by composer Wang Jie. Wang Jie, also trained as an organist, wrote the piece for the unusual combination of pipe organ and string quartet. On today's show, we'll hear the Apollo Chamber Players and organist Daryl Robinson play the world premiere of The Night When You See Again by Wang Jie.

A professional cook, a jazz pianist, a golfer, and an astrophotographer walk into a concert hall. It sounds like the start of a joke, doesn't it? But really, that's the beginning of any given concert featuring the Quartetto di Cremona. We'll hear them play Anton Webern's Langsamer Satz at a concert in Syracuse on today's show.

Winning a music competition often means winning cash prizes and publicity galore. Pianist Alim Beisembayev also won the chance to perform the world premiere of a new piece. He'll play a brand new piano concerto by Eleanor Alberga on today's show.

Pianist Inon Barnatan keeps busy as a musician, playing on the most prestigious stages around the world. He's also the Music Director of Summerfest La Jolla in California. On today's show, we'll hear a stunning performance at a stunning location—Inon Barnatan, violinist Augustin Hadelich, and cellist Efe Baltacigil play the Piano Trio by Maurice Ravel at Summerfest La Jolla.

In 1935, William Grant Still wrote a musical picture of the journey of a human spirit after death. It's a suite for piano called Three Visions. On today's show, we'll hear pianist Andrew Armstrong play Still's suite at a concert presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

When clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gloria Chien met in 2006, they bonded over their love of Johannes Brahms's music, a bond that can be felt when they play together. They'll play a clarinet sonata by Brahms for us on today's show.