Performance Today®

On Friday's Performance Today, we've got a PT listener favorite: Cymbeline, by composer David Bruce. We'll hear it performed by mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital and the Dover Quartet in Savannah, Georgia.

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

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.

Today is French composer Erik Satie's 150th birthday. In celebration, we'll hear pieces composed by Satie, and pieces that he inspired. Plus, pianist David Kadouch will share his take on Satie's legacy.

For students at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the experience is not just about the music. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear cellist Alisa Weilerstein's take on the Aspen experience. Plus, we'll hear her play a cello solo by Osvaldo Golijov live from Aspen's Harris Hall.

Julian Barnes' new novel, "The Noise of Time," is based on the story of composer Dmitri Shostakovich, and tackles the conflict between art and power. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear more from both Barnes and Shostakovich.

Julian Barnes' new novel, "The Noise of Time," is based on the story of composer Dmitri Shostakovich, and tackles the conflict between art and power. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear more from both Barnes and Shostakovich.

Acclaimed novelist Julian Barnes has published a new book about composer Dmitri Shostakovich, which explores the most turbulent years of Shostakovich's life under the regimes of Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev.

The story of Don Juan taps a deep territory in the human psyche: love, betrayal, excess, and death. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Richard Strauss's explosive tone poem based on the story of Don Juan.