Performance Today®

On Christmas Day, join us for a musical journey around the world. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll sample musical highlights from concert halls, churches, and museums around the globe as part of our annual Christmas celebration.

The first conductor who saw Sergei Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil thought it was too difficult. Singers who can actually sing it, he said, are "as rare as asparagus at Christmas." On Thursday's Performance Today, we have a delicacy for Christmas Eve; the Kansas City and Phoenix Chorales performing highlights from the All-Night Vigil.

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game. Play along; see if you can name the tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll play the Piano Puzzler, plus we'll hear highlights from concert halls around the world.

Tesfa Wondemagegnehu is a singer, teacher, conductor, and an all-around good guy. On Tuesday's Performance Today, he'll join Fred in the studio to talk about how music changes lives. Plus, he'll bring along a stack of his favorite holiday music, and share his tips for avoiding common caroling pitfalls.

PT host Fred Child is joined in the studio by his friend and special co-host, Tesfa Wondemagegnehu. Tesfa has chosen a special playlist of his favorite Christmas performances, and he'll reveal the secret to singing the perfect version of Silent Night.

'Tis the season for winter holiday music. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear performances from near and far; music for the Christmas season from concert halls, churches, and auditoriums around the world.

Every week composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game; our Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer, and we get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with the Piano Puzzler, on this weekend's Performance Today.

Conductor Simon Rattle has known The Nutcracker since he was a kid, and with each passing year he becomes more fascinated with the music. On Friday's Performance Today, Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in The Nutcracker "B-sides;" the sometimes overlooked, but still heart-tugging and toe-tapping dances from the rest of Tchaikovsky's beloved ballet.

Antonin Dvorak wrote his Bagatelles for a dear friend; they were composed as a gift, and never intended for a wider audience. But luckily for us, they got out. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Dvorak's Bagatelles from a concert on Long Island. Plus, we'll head to England for a recent concert performance of Robert Schumann's Spring Symphony.