Performance Today®

Olga Kern was 26 when she won the Cliburn Piano Competition. Thirteen years later, her musical voice has matured and she is a piano powerhouse. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Olga Kern in concert playing a set of variations by Clara Schumann.

On Wednesday's Performance Today, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us with our weekly musical game. Play along; see if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Plus, we'll hear musical highlights from concert halls from Los Angeles to Hamburg.

Classical music is meant to be played and heard in concert, and today's concert scene is bursting with creativity and vitality and talent. On Tuesday's Performance Today, join us for two hours of highlights from recent concerts from across the country and around the world.

Physics can make it tough to play an organ with an orchestra. If the organ pipes are 200 feet from the conductor, it can take their sound a quarter second to cover that distance; enough to potentially disrupt a performance. On Monday's Performance Today, the New York Philharmonic tackles the physics of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony in concert in New York.

Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. Play along on this weekend's Performance Today; see if you can guess the tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking.

Mozart wrote hundreds of pieces that are delightful and charming, but several dozen of his works are so expressive, so riveting, that they're masterpieces. On Friday's Performance Today we'll hear one such masterpiece: Mozart's Symphony No. 39.

CPE Bach's music is characterized by sheer exuberance, wild creativity, and emotional depth. There are sudden stops for contemplation, followed by a quick returns to the happy roller coaster ride. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear an example of CPE Bach's unique sound from a concert in Oslo, Norway.

On Wednesday's Performance Today, we have a full hour of concert highlights from Carnegie Hall in New York. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us for our weekly musical game - the Piano Puzzler.

The Pittsburgh Symphony flew their 95 musicians and all their gear to Berlin. And moments after they got off the plane, they jumped onstage to play the opening concert of a major festival. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear the Pittsburgh Symphony give a stirring performance from that very concert.