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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at 

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

Shows

Since 2000, Fred Child has been the host of Performance Today, the most-listened-to classical music radio show in America. He also is the commentator and announcer for Live From Lincoln Center, the only live performing arts series on television. He also hosts musical events on stages around the country, working with major orchestras and festivals, and connecting with audiences coast to coast.


Host

Fred Child

Kathryn Slusher is the senior producer of Performance Today, where she leads programming and production for the show. In her spare time, she enjoys the vibrant Twin Cities music and theater scene, and loves to read, hike and spend time with her family.


Senior Producer

Kathryn Slusher

As a Producer for Performance Today, Meghann chooses music to broadcast on the show, writes web articles and scripts, facilitates, conducts and edits interviews, creates video content and manages PT’s social media pages. She created Performance Today’s Black History Spotlight Series and the My Name is Series to highlight Black classical musicians. Meghann is also the producer for the PT Young Artist in Residence Series. In her free time, she is a mom, a part-time actress and fashion lover.

Meghann also created and hosted “Wondrous Strange”, a national radio program about uncommon musical instruments, she is the official underwriting voice for ‘The New York Times’ The Daily, and she can occasionally be heard guest-hosting Performance Today.


Producer

Meghann Oglesby

As an Associate Producer for Performance Today, Kathleen Bradbury writes scripts and assists with external communications. In her spare time, she likes to read fiction, lift heavy weights at the gym, and frolic about in nature. But above all else, Kathleen loves to sing Broadway showtunes--much to the delight of her wife, her infant son, and her rescue dog.


Kathleen Bradbury

Jon Gohman is an associate producer for Performance Today. He is responsible for various behind-the-scenes functions, including liaising with artists and creating materials for national distribution. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing the guitar, and thinking about Langrange points.


Associate Producer

Jon Gohman

Craig Thorson is the Technical Director for Performance Today. In addition to mastering the live music recordings that are programmed for each daily program, he records guest performances and interviews. Craig enjoys skiing, tennis, and bicycling, and boating.


Technical Director

Craig Thorson

Jeanne Barron is the technical producer of Performance Today.


Technical Producer

YourClassical MPR

Jeanne Barron

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Performance Today

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'.


Performance Today®

Wikipedia

Music inspired by laughter

In 1932, George Gershwin took a vacation to Havana, Cuba. He came home with a set of bongos, a set of maracas, and inspiration for a new composition. On Wednesday's Performance Today we'll hear Gershwin's Cuban Overture, his souvenir from two "hysterical" weeks in Cuba.


Gershwin's Cuban souvenir

Are three heads better than one? Bach wrote his Goldberg variations for a single pianist to play, but a trio of string players have worked out a clever reinvention. On Tuesday's Performance Today we'll hear that music from a concert in Angel Fire, New Mexico.


Britannica.com

The Goldberg Variations, Reinvented

Monday's Performance Today features music and conversation with pianist and Beethoven enthusiast Jonathan Biss. Biss will discuss his upcoming online music course, and we'll hear him perform a Beethoven piano sonata.


EMI Classics

Beethoven and Biss

Jonathan Biss teaches Beethoven

Sign up for pianist Jonathan Biss's free online course about Beethoven's piano sonatas.


Freds Favorites

Benjamin Ealovega

Composer Maurice Ravel was a dear friend of the Gaudin family. When World War One began, the brothers Pascal and Pierre Gaudin proudly signed up for the French army. On the day the brothers arrived at the front, they were both killed by a single German shell. On this weekend's Performance Today we'll hear Le Tombeau de Couperin, a piece that Ravel wrote in memory of his friends Pierre and Pascal.


Wikipedia.org

Le Tombeau de Couperin

The Academy Awards are coming up this weekend. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear music by Oscar-nominated composer (and five-time Oscar winner) John Williams, in anticipation of Hollywood's big night.


wikipedia.org

The Academy Awards

Remembering Van Cliburn

The great American pianist Van Cliburn passed away one year ago today. In this special program we'll remember the legendary musician through interviews, music, and more.


Performance Today Features

Image courtesy of artandseek.net

The 2014 Sphinx Competition took place last week in Detroit. On Thursday's Performance Today we'll hear the winning performance, plus we'll speak with the winner of this year's competition: 19-year-old bass soloist Xavier Foley.
