Performance Today®

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.

According to conductor Leonard Slatkin, leading an orchestra is a bit like being the coach of a football team. On Tuesday's Performance Today, Coach Slatkin will tell us more about the curious art of conducting; plus, we'll hear from a recent concert featuring Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Sergey Taneyev's Symphony No. 4 is a great piece of Romantic Russian music, and it's not played nearly often enough. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra play it in concert in Rotterdam.

The story of Don Juan taps a deep territory in the human psyche: love, betrayal, excess, and death. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear Richard Strauss's explosive tone poem based on the story of Don Juan. Plus, a stunning performance of three traditional Chinese songs arranged for string quartet.

The story of Don Juan taps a deep territory in the human psyche: love, betrayal, excess, and death. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear Richard Strauss's explosive tone poem based on the story of Don Juan. Plus, a stunning performance of three traditional Chinese songs arranged for string quartet.

Twenty-five talented pianists competed in this year's National Chopin Piano Competition in Miami. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear dazzling performances from three of the contestants. Plus, a half hour of music that took Mozart four days to write -- his Symphony No. 36.

Every five years since 1975, the American Chopin Foundation has held a National Chopin piano competition. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear from this year's winner, 17-year-old Eric Lu. Plus, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us with this week's Piano Puzzler.

On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear two great American music institutions in concert. First, the New York Philharmonic plays Ravel's Mother Goose Suite at Lincoln Center. And then, the U.S. Marine Band plays music that honors President John F. Kennedy in Virginia.

On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear Sharon Kam and her clarinet take center stage in Madrid, playing a clarinet showpiece by Carl Maria von Weber.