Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

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Saint-Saens' musical menagerie

Saint-Saens' musical menagerie

Camille Saint-Saens wrote the Carnival of the Animals for a private party; he'd hoped that would be the last time it was ever heard. Of course, that's not what happened. On Thursday's Performance Today we'll hear Saint-Saens' much-loved musical menagerie from a concert in Buffalo, New York.

David Maslanka

David Maslanka

Contemporary composer David Maslanka begins every day by playing and singing Bach. On Wednesday's Performance Today we'll hear Maslanka's Wind Quintet No. 3, which features a direct musical quote from a Bach chorale.

Jade Simmons

Jade Simmons

On Tuesday's Performance Today, innovative pianist Jade Simmons joins Fred in the studio to discuss what it means to stay fiery as a musician.

Friend of Fred: Jade Simmons

Friend of Fred: Jade Simmons

Pianist Jade Simmons, curator and "musical force of nature," co-hosts a special hour of Performance Today with Fred Child.

Tears of Sakura

Tears of Sakura

The Great East Japan Earthquake took place on March 11, 2011. Composer and conductor Yannick Paget, who lives in Japan, expressed his grief for those lost and his hopes for recovery through his composition "Tears of Sakura."

Avi Avital

Avi Avital

When he was five years old, Avi Avital's mother asked him which musical instrument he would like to play. The Avital family had an upstairs neighbor who practiced the mandolin; Avi didn't hesitate for a moment in choosing the same instrument. 30 years later, he's on top of the classical mandolin world. We'll hear Avi Avital in concert on Monday's Performance Today.

C.P.E. Bach's birthday

C.P.E. Bach's birthday

In honor of his 300th birthday, we'll celebrate the life and remarkably inventive music of composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach on this weekend's Performance Today.

C.P.E. Bach's birthday

C.P.E. Bach's birthday

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was born 300 years ago this week. On Friday's Performance Today we'll celebrate his life and his remarkably inventive music.

Music inspired by laughter

Music inspired by laughter

Composer Leos Janacek had a bad case of writer's block. One day, he heard the family maid suddenly burst into laughter; she had been reading a newspaper cartoon about a fox and her friends. On Thursday's Performance Today we'll hear music inspired by this laughter from the next room: the orchestral suite from Janacek's opera 'The Cunning Little Vixen'.

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