Performance Today®

Russian composer Alexander Scriabin was innovative and complex man. Leo Tolstoy described his music as "a sincere expression of genius"... and Scriabin himself would likely have agreed. On Thursday's Performance Today, learn more about Alexander Scriabin and hear his "Poem of Ecstasy" performed in concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Aaron Copland was from Brooklyn. He was a city slicker who captured and, to a certain degree, created what we think of as the sound of the old American west. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear selections from his cowboy ballet, "Billy the Kid."

We're celebrating Independence Day with a full hour of music by American composers, including Aaron Copland's 'Lincoln Portrait'. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear 'Lincoln Portrait' played by the Minnesota Orchestra with narrator Alan Page.

Serge Koussevitzky was famous as a 20th century conductor, but he was also a composer... and a virtuoso on the double bass. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Koussevitzky's double bass Concerto, with Robin Kesselman on double bass, in concert with the Houston Symphony.

Nino Rota is one of those composers whose music you know... even if you don't know you know it. He composed music for 150 film soundtracks, including The Godfather (1 & 2) and numerous films by Federico Fellini, but he was also a prolific composer of concert works. On Saturday's Performance Today, hear the 'Sonata for Flute and Harp' by Nino Rota, from a concert in Madrid.

The Music is Music podcast's complete second season is here--and it's taking you to some unexpected places.

In the 1880's, when Spanish composer Enrique Granados was a young man, he saw paintings by Francisco Goya... and fell in love. Granados was inspired to write a suite for piano based on Goya's works, and it has become his most famous work. On Friday's Performance Today, hear music from "Goyescas" by Enrique Granados, performed by pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.

Pianist Dizhou Zhao is winner of numerous competition prizes, and is also a winner of Astral Artist's 2012 National Auditions. On Thursday's Performance Today, hear Dizhou Zhao play "Sonatina" by Liqing Yang... it's a beautiful work by one of the great Chinese composers of the 20th century.

You can find Emily Howell's music all over the internet, but a search for Emily Howell the person comes up empty. She plays no concerts, attends no events, has no email address, and not a single photo comes up under a google search. The reason? It's surprisingly simple. Join Music is Music host Ria Misra as she talks with composer David Cope about who Emily Howell is--and what Emily Howell means for the future of music.