Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

An orchestra with orbiting wind players

An orchestra with orbiting wind players

An orchestra on stage... and five wind players orbiting the concert hall; it's an experiential, choreographed concerto. On Saturday's Performance Today, hear the world premiere concert performance of "The Cosmos" by Michael Gilbertson.

Brasil Guitar Duo

Brasil Guitar Duo

Douglas Lora and Joao Luiz met when they were teenagers, and have been playing guitar together for almost 20 years as the Brasil Guitar Duo. On Friday's Performance Today, hear them perform "The Cyclops", originally written for harpsichord by Jean-Philippe Rameau, from a concert in New York City.

Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Jean Sibelius wrote his second symphony in 1902, when Finland was struggling for its independence from Russia. The symphony came to be known as Finland's 'Symphony of Independence'. Sibelius never call it that... he simply called it Symphony No. 2. Osmo Vanska conducts Sibelius's Symphony No. 2, in concert, on Thursday's Performance Today.

Music from Tippet Rise

Music from Tippet Rise

Tippet Rise is an art center located on a working ranch near Fishtail, Montana, about a 2-3 hour drive from Yellowstone National Park. The center incorporates musical performance venues along with large-scale art installations. It's a peaceful and inspiring destination. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear pianist George Li in a concert at the Olivier Music Barn at Tippet Rise.

Drew Petersen

Drew Petersen

Drew Petersen is the 2017 winner of the American Pianists Award, as well as a recipient of the prestigious Kovner Fellowship. He is currently pursuing a master's degree at the Juilliard conservatory in New York. On Tuesday's Performance Today, Drew Petersen joins host Fred Child for music and conversation from the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Mahler's breakup music

Mahler's breakup music

Gustav Mahler got over a bad breakup by writing his Symphony No. 1. He confided to a friend: "The music begins where the love affair ends." Mahler's First, from a concert by the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, on Monday's Performance Today.

Saleem Ashkar

Saleem Ashkar

Pianist Saleem Ashkar says he never heard classical music growing up in Israel. Then, when he was six years old, Saleem's father traded a car for a piano... and Saleem found his calling. On Saturday's Performance Today, Saleem Ashkar plays Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

When you trade a car for a piano...

When you trade a car for a piano...

Pianist Saleem Ashkar says he never heard classical music growing up in Israel. Then, when he was six years old, Saleem's father traded a car for a piano... and Saleem found his calling. On Friday's Performance Today, Saleem Ashkar plays Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

Composer Florent Schmitt

Composer Florent Schmitt

In 1904, French composer Florent Schmitt turned a poem by Edgar Allan Poe into an eerie, unsettling orchestral work. On Thursday's Performance Today, conductor JoAnn Falletta leads the Buffalo Philharmonic in a concert performance of "The Haunted Palace" by Florent Schmitt.