American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Two years ago, the Artemis Quartet experienced the tragic loss of one of their own. On Monday's Performance Today, the story of how they were able to carry on. Then, hear the Artemis Quartet in a concert from the Union College Concert Series in Schenectady, New York.
In 1705, 20 year-old Johann Sebastian Bach walked 250 miles across Germany to hear Dietrich Buxtehude play the organ at St. Mary's Church in the town of Lubeck. At least that's how Bach explained it. On Saturday's Performance Today, our story is about Dietrich Buxtehude, organist and prolific composer. Hear Buxtehude's Ciacona in B minor, in a concert from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
It's a PT listener favorite... Cymbeline, by composer David Bruce, written in 2013 for mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital. On Friday's Performance Today, Avital and the Dover Quartet play Cymbeline in Savannah, Georgia.
Violinist Joshua Bell says that playing for an audience is not about playing the notes in a composition. it's about connecting with everybody in the room, creating a shared emotional experience. On Thursday's Performance Today, hear Joshua Bell play Violin Concerto No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saens, recorded live at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
How do young pianists prepare for one of the most prestigious and most grueling music competitions in the world? Find out in a new podcast, sponsored by Performance Today.
Almost 40 years ago, James Schlefer first heard the sound of the shakuhachi, the Japanese wood flute. Today, he's among the few Westerners to be a certified Grand Master on the instrument. He's a composer, as well. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear James Nyoraku Schlefer play the shakuhachi in a performance of his composition "Concertante".
Ten years ago, we featured an 11 year-old pianist on our show. George Li is now 21, a student at Harvard, and has a busy schedule of concerts around the world. On Tuesday's Performance Today, he gives a thrilling performance of the Piano Concerto No. 2, by Camille Saint-Saens, in a highlight from the 2016 Verbier Festival.
Pianist Yuja Wang has had a major-label recording contract for 8 years, since she was 22 years old. She is known for playing virtuosic pieces by the likes of Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Liszt... and yet, she still feels a bit intimidated about playing music by Mozart. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Yuja Wang perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Lionel Bringuier.
Alex Beyer, 22, is working on a unique and challenging combination of academic degrees. He studies mathematics at Harvard AND is working on a Master's degree in piano at the New England Conservatory. To Alex, math and music are artistically intertwined. Pianist Alex Beyer - PT Young Artist in Residence - performs "La Valse" by Maurice Ravel, on this weekend's Performance Today.
