Performance Today®

At the age of 36, pianist Leon Fleisher was one of the greatest young performers on the planet. Then, over several months, he experienced the unimaginable. He lost the use of his right hand. For 35 years he could only play piano with his left hand. He is now 88 years old, and performs around the world...with both hands. Join us for this inspirational real life story, then hear Leon Fleisher perform "Sheep May Safely Graze" by J.S. Bach, on Friday's Performance Today.

As a teenager, Paul Lewis spent his free time listening to recordings at his local library. He fell in love with piano music, and obsessively began to listen to recordings by the great Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel. The beauty of this story is that Paul Lewis later earned the honor of taking lessons with the great man. We have more on this story, then hear Paul Lewis play Piano Sonata No. 9, by Franz Schubert, on Thursday's Performance Today.

In 1894, at the age of 27, Amy Beach became the first American woman to compose and publish a symphony. She was the first woman to establish a reputation as a great American composer. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we present Amy Beach's Symphony in E minor, Op. 32 ("Gaelic"), performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

What is sacred? What is worth living and dying for? According to Don Juan, the ubiquitous answer is...love. On Tuesday's Performance Today, take a seat at the Walt Disney Concert Hall for an L.A. Philharmonic performance of "Don Juan" by Richard Strauss.

Imagine a few eggs on a bed of straw. Suddenly, little legs poke through the shells and the eggs stand up and start dancing around - that's what happens in the Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks, from Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear that piece from a concert by the Houston Symphony.

Thirty years ago this week, the Performance Today theme was heard on public radio for the first time. And ever since then, listeners have been asking, "which piece by Mozart is that?" On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll have a conversation the composer of our theme, Jim Pugh, to celebrate our 30th anniversary.

On Friday's Performance Today, we'll go to Tokyo to hear legendary pianist Murray Perahia and the London Symphony Orchestra give a thrilling performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4.

Christopher Tignor is a composer, violinist, and software engineer. His emotionally charged scores and unique focus on live, performance-based electro-acoustic practice has won acclaim within both the classical and experimental communities.

Thirty years ago, the Performance Today theme was heard on public radio for the first time. And ever since then, listeners have been asking, "which piece by Mozart is that?" On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll have a conversation the composer of our theme, Jim Pugh, to celebrate our 30th anniversary.