Performance Today®

Trolls, goblins, and gnomes - we'll join them all in the Hall of the Mountain King. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite; plus, pianist Joyce Yang plays Grieg's Piano Concerto in concert at the Aspen Festival.

It's not every orchestral concert that gets covered by news outlets around the world -- but this was the first American orchestra to play in Cuba since the restoration of diplomatic ties with the U.S. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear from the Minnesota Orchestra's historic concert in Havana, Cuba.

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.

Danish composer Carl Nielsen is not known for his string quartets. His countrymen, the Danish String Quartet, think it's time for that to change. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear them play Nielsen's Quartet No. 2; a piece as sweet and quirky as the composer himself.

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 Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear selections from his cowboy ballet, "Billy the Kid."

On this weekend's Performance Today, mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile will join Fred in the studio to co-host an hour of PT. He'll play Bach, and talk about seeing his favorite Mahler symphony in concert. The musical enthusiasms of Chris Thile, on the next Performance Today.

On Friday's Performance Today, mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile will join Fred in the studio to co-host an hour of PT. He'll play Bach, and talk about seeing his favorite Mahler symphony in concert. The musical enthusiasms of Chris Thile, on the next Performance Today.

On Thursday's Performance Today, innovative pianist Jade Simmons joins Fred in the studio to discuss what it means to stay fiery as a musician.

On Wednesday's Performance Today, Fred Child is joined by a special co-host -- violinist Hilary Hahn. Since her professional debut at age 16, Hilary Hahn has been counted as one of the very best classical violinists in the world. She's curated a special playlist for PT listeners which includes performances that influenced her as a young violinist and ones that she admires today.