Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Lara Downes

Lara Downes

Pianist Lara Downes's passion for sharing the music of Black composers goes beyond performing onstage. She's also been hard at work making this previously overlooked music accessible for other musicians to play. Downes will detail her editing and publishing efforts, plus perform a highlight from the project on today's show.

Amy Beach's Piano Quintet

Amy Beach's Piano Quintet

Amy Beach's Piano Quintet is a technically demanding work, but it is also deeply expressive and emotionally engaging. On today's show, we'll hear Beach’s Piano Quintet played in concert by an ad hoc, all-star quintet at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.

PT Weekend: Marc-Andre Hamelin

PT Weekend: Marc-Andre Hamelin

Marc-Andre Hamelin is one of the most celebrated and respected pianists of our time. His performances are known for their brilliance, technical mastery, and deep musicality. On today's show, we'll hear Hamelin play one of the world’s most challenging piano compositions: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29, the Hammerklavier.

MELT

MELT

Composer David Kirkland Garner is fascinated by a wide range of American roots music, and the legacies of the people who made it happen. On today's episode, we'll hear a piece he wrote honoring the blues legend Mississippi John Hurt. It's a dance called MELT, by David Kirkland Garner, from a concert presented by the Atlanta Chamber Players.

Talin Nalbandian

Talin Nalbandian

Talin Nalbandian worked as an opera singer in New York for five years before she began her doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin…and she is one of our 2023 PT Young Artists in Residence. She recently joined Fred Child in our St. Paul studio; tune in today to learn more about Talin Nalbandian.

Beethoven's "Hammerklavier"

Beethoven's "Hammerklavier"

Marc-Andre Hamelin is one of the most celebrated and respected pianists of our time. His performances are known for their brilliance, technical mastery, and deep musicality. On today's show, we'll hear Hamelin play one of the world’s most challenging piano compositions: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29, the Hammerklavier.

Robert Kahn

Robert Kahn

What would you do if you met someone famous? Would you keep your cool and calmly shake hands? Or are you the type of person who would get too excited and trip on your own feet? On today's show, find out how composer Robert Kahn reacted when he met Johannes Brahms.

Violist Jordan Bak

Violist Jordan Bak

Violist Jordan Bak was one of our 2020 Young Artists in Residence. He's an incredibly talented young musician with a bright personality and continues to bloom. On today's show, we'll hear Jordan Bak's performance of Bartok's Viola Concerto with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra.

PT Weekend: Augusta Holmès

PT Weekend: Augusta Holmès

Augusta Holmès and her music were celebrated in Paris during her life. She wrote quite a few large-scale orchestral works, and in many cases, she surprised critics who expected a woman to write more diminutive music. Holmès compositions are being rediscovered and appreciated for what they are: the work of a talented composer. We'll hear music by French composer Augusta Holmes on today's show.