Performance Today®

Conductor Herbert Blomstedt is a Seventh Day Adventist, so he can't work from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday... when so many concerts are performed. Yet Blomstedt says conducting concerts is not a problem; rehearsals ARE work, but a concert is an expression of his devotion. On Thursday's Performance Today, Herbert Blomstedt conducts the LA Phil in a concert performance of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 9.

Maurice Ravel met a Hungarian violinist named Jelly D'Aranyi at a party. Ravel was so enthralled by the Gypsy tunes she played that night that he went home and wrote a piece of music for her. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear Maurice Ravel's "Tzigane" performed by Joshua Bell and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The Gateways Music Festival in Rochester, New York, celebrates the participation and contributions of classically-trained musicians of African descent. On Tuesday's Performance Today, hear an in-concert recording from the 2017 festival: "An American Port of Call" by Adolphus Hailstork, performed by the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra.

1844 was a rough year for Schumann; he was entrenched in anxiety, fatigue, and depression. Functioning and getting through a day was a challenge - let alone trying to write music. And yet, from within his struggles, he was able to write some a symphony full of light, life, and hope. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Schumann's Symphony No. 2 from a concert at the Aspen Chamber Music Festival and School.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.