In 2013, the Danish String Quartet spent a week in the countryside, arranging and recording Scandanavian folk tunes. We'll listen to an arrangement from that outing - an old Danish tune called "Five Sheep, Four Goats". Also featured, symphonies by Beethoven and Brahms on Friday's Performance Today.
Sol Gabetta plays cello with intelligence, emotion, and a lively wit. She lives in Switzerland, and her career is mainly in Europe. But on Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear from a rare concert Sol Gabetta gave here in the states with the Houston Symphony.
Molly Yeh grew up surrounded by music... she went to the Juilliard School to pursue a musical career, but then found her calling as a food writer and cookbook author. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we meet Molly Yeh at her farm on the high prairie, and she tells us what she'd make if Mozart came over for dinner.
Musician/composer Simon Shaheen grew up in Israel, became a master of Arabic music, and moved to New York in 1980 where he was immersed in a kaleidoscope of vibrant cultures and sounds. On Tuesday's Performance Today, Imani Winds play Dance Mediterranea by Simon Shaheen, in a concert from the Beaches Fine Arts series in Jacksonville, Florida.
Gabriela Montero has been playing the Piano Concerto by Edvard Grieg since she was 11 (c. 1981). Her original copy of the music, the one she has used for over 30 years, is decorated with the Hello Kitty stickers of an 11 year-old girl. The Venezuelan pianist is now 46, and she just recently bought a new copy of the music. On Monday's Performance Today, the ever-youthful Gabriela Montero performs Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Houston Symphony, Andres Orozco-Estrada conducting.
Percussionist and food writer Molly Yeh co-hosts a special episode of Performance Today.
Fifteen-year-old Ray Ushikubo has been playing both the piano and violin for nearly 10 years. Since his first solo orchestral debut at the age of 10, he has performed with world-renowned artists and orchestras, including pianist Lang Lang, and the Los Angeleles Chamber Orchestra. Music and conversation with Ray Ushikubo, our PT Young Artist in Residence, on this weekend's Performance Today.
"Tales of Hemingway" by Michael Daugherty won THREE Grammys this year. It's a dramatic musical tour through the life and literature of Ernest Hemingway, ending with a bullfight scene from "The Sun Also Rises." On Friday's Performance Today, travel back into Hemingway's Lost Generation as the Nashville Symphony plays "Tales of Hemingway" by Michael Daugherty.
Mexican quintet Tembembe Ensamble Continuo thrives in the territory where classical and folk overlap. Their music is a rich blend of Spanish classical and Mexican folk. On Thursday's Performance Today, join us for music and conversation with Tembembe Ensamble Continuo.
