American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Rafal Blechacz did not want to play piano at first; he had dreams of playing the organ, but he eventually realized that the piano was the right instrument for him. On Tuesday's Performance Today, hear Blechacz play J. S. Bach's Italian Concerto from a concert in Schenectady, NY.
Maurice Ravel wrote a piano trio in 1914, shortly before he began serving as an ambulance driver for the French army. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Ravel's Piano Trio in A Minor, from a concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
When Sang Yoon Kim was a student, his teacher had him play the clarinet... while riding an excercise bike. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll discuss the cardio-musical benefits of clarinet cycling, and hear a thrilling clarinet performance by Sang Yoon Kim.
Russian composer Mily Balakirev was a piano virtuoso, yet by the time he was nearly finished with one of his compositions, even HE couldn't play it. So he wrote easier alternate passages... just in case the original is too hard. On Friday's Performance Today, hear pianist Vadym Kholodenko give a wonderful performance of Islamey by Mily Balakirev.
Joseph Douglass, the favorite grandson of prominent American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, had a career in classical music that spanned more than three decades.
Every day during Black History Month, we'll highlight an African American composer or musician. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear about composer Florence Price, and a story about how a treasure trove of her work was rediscovered.
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein loves playing at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina; she says that it's a unique and very special kind of experience. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll take you to Charleston's Dock Street Theatre to hear Weilerstein perform with pianist Inon Barnatan and violinist Geoff Nuttall.
The Olmos Ensemble wants to make classical music accessible for everyone. One way is to let audience members choose how much to pay for tickets. People pay what they can... some a little more, some a little less. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll drop in on a concert in San Antonio, Texas, and hear the Olmos Ensemble perform a quintet by Anton Reicha.
Gustav Mahler destroyed nearly all the music he'd written as a teenager. But one piano quartet survives... written when he was just 15 years-old. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Mahler's youthful Piano Quartet in A minor, performed at the Music@Menlo festival.
