Performance Today®

All this summer, we're featuring great music inspired by distinctive American places. On Friday's Performance Today, our Summer Road Trip stops in Florida. We'll hear the Florida Suite by Frederick Delius; music inspired by the days he spent tending to his father's orange groves.

Pianist Vadym Kholodenko may have won the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition, but he never intends to rest on his laurels -- he believes that the process of learning is endless. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll find out what Kholodenko has been learning since he won the Cliburn when he joins Fred in the studio for music and conversation.

Listen to in-studio interview with host Fred Child and musical performances by pianist Vadym Kholodenko.

Every summer, Lugano, Switzerland is home to the Martha Argerich Project. For over two weeks, Argerich plays several concerts, and gets her friends to play with her. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Martha Argerich and the Swiss Italian Orchestra play a brand new piece by Luis Bacalov.

As a boy, Ramzi Aburedwan threw stones at Israeli soldiers. Then he learned to play the violin, and these days, he fights for peace -- with music. On Tuesday's Performance Today, journalist Sandy Tolan and Palestinian music teacher Ramzi Aburedwan join Fred to discuss the power of music and Tolan's new book, "Children of the Stone."

When he was 8 years old, Ramzi Aburedwan became the poster child for the first Palestinian Intifada with a photo of him throwing a rock at an Israeli tank. Then, as he says, "music chose him.' He began to play the viola, removing him from violence and giving him another means of personal expression. A new book about Aburedwan and the music school he began has just been published. Fred Child interviews the author Sandy Tolan along with Aburedwan.

Coming up, music from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by John Williams. Plus, an entertaining set of variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and a piece composed by the 16-year-old Mozart. It's music for the kid in all of us, on Monday's Performance Today.

PT has spent the past week at one of the great musical gatherings on the planet: the Aspen Music Festival and School in Aspen, Colorado. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear concert highlights from Aspen, played by all-stars and talented students. Plus, reflections on the synergy between music and nature.

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.