Performance Today®

In 1948, American composer William Grant Still was inspired by some poems about the natural beauty of the American South. On this episode of Performance Today, take a break with us and hear Wood Notes, William Grant Still's work of quiet musical contemplation. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler!

Pianist Lara Downes is passionate about sharing the music of Black composers and strives to make previously overlooked music accessible for other musicians to play. On today's show, Lara Downes plays Florence Price's 'Piano Concerto in One Movement' with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

In 1950, composer Duke Ellington visited the White House and presented President Harry S. Truman with the score to a piece that depicts a Sunday stroll through Harlem—and the people you'd meet along the way. On today's show, conductor JoAnn Falletta leads the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of 'Harlem' by Duke Ellington.

Richard Strauss was aiming, not just for our greatest hopes and fears, but for the meaning of life when he wrote one of his most monumental pieces. On today's show, we'll take you to a concert in Cincinnati to hear Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week’s Piano Puzzler!

In the 1820s, 17-year-old Frederic Chopin wrote a set of variations that helped launch his career. A century later, an unknown 18-year-old played that piece at the 2022 Cliburn International Piano Competition and took the classical world by storm. On today's show, we'll hear pianist Yunchan Lim's Cliburn performance of Chopin's Variations on ‘Là ci darem la mano.’

A friend of pianist Gilles Vonsattel convinced him to take a chance and learn a relatively unknown but very demanding piece by Austrian composer Ludwig Thuille. It was a challenge, but in the end, he was glad he went with his friend's judgment. On today's show, we'll hear Gilles Vonsattel and the St. Lawrence String Quartet play Thuille's Piano Quintet No. 2 at a concert in Charleston, South Carolina.

For a special Valentine's Day edition of Piano Puzzler, Fred Child and Bruce Adolphe welcome married couple Janie and Andrew Wittenberg, who are calling from Cincinnati. Watch now!

Richard Strauss was aiming, not just for our greatest hopes and fears, but for the meaning of life when he wrote one of his most monumental pieces. On today's show, we'll take you to a concert in Cincinnati to hear Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss.

Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music. In 2017, Esmail drew inspiration from the words of Rumi, a 13th-century Sufi poet: "Religions are many, but God is one. The lamps may be different, but the light is the same." On today's episode, we'll take you to a concert at the University of Georgia to hear the Imani Winds play Reena Esmail's 'The Light is the Same.'