Performance Today®

Carl Nielsen was enjoying a beer when he saw a funny picture about four types of human character. Eventually, that silly painting became the inspiration behind his Symphony No. 2. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear Nielsen's pub-inspired symphony from a recent concert in Estonia.

On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll continue our centennial celebration in honor of the U.S. National Park System. We'll be joined by Bill Ryan, director of the GVSU New Music Ensemble, who will tell us why his group has dedicated the past two years to music inspired by our National Parks. Plus, we'll hear music from the natural world.

On Friday's Performance Today, we'll continue our centennial celebration in honor of the U.S. National Park System. We'll be joined by Bill Ryan, director of the GVSU New Music Ensemble, who will tell us why his group has dedicated the past two years to music inspired by our National Parks. Plus, we'll hear music from the natural world.

The GVSU New Music Ensemble played works they commissioned to play in U.S. National Parks across the country.

Composer Keith Kenniff has a knack for writing music that inspires.

On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear an all-star performance of an all-time classic; pianist Garrick Ohlsson teams up with the Swiss Italian Orchestra to play Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in concert in Lugano, Switzerland.

Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. Then, one of our listeners calls in and tries to guess two things: the tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Play along with our weekly musical game, on Wednesday's Performance Today.

Rudolf Buchbinder grew up in a house with a piano, despite the fact that no one in his family played music. But that piano became a source of inspiration for Buchbinder, who has grown up to have a tremendous career as a pianist. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear him play music by Beethoven.

In 1930, Maurice Ravel wrote a special concerto for a pianist who had lost his right arm during the First World War. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear pianist Kirill Gerstein play Ravel's Piano Concerto for Left Hand in concert in Houston.