Bryce Dessner's 'St. Carolyn by the Sea'
For PT's weekly musical focus on 21st century music, Fred Child talked with composer Bryce Dessner of indie-rock band The National.
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For PT's weekly musical focus on 21st century music, Fred Child talked with composer Bryce Dessner of indie-rock band The National.

On Thursday's Performance Today, Emily Reese of Top Score joins Fred in the studio to discuss the classical roots of modern video game music.

Radio host Emily Reese combines her enthusiasm for playing video games and passion for classical music as the host of Top Score, a weekly podcast highlighting video game music and the people who create it.

Depending on your point of view, Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben is either pompous, self-congratulatory excess or brilliant Romantic satire. On Wednesday's Performance Today we'll hear a performance of this piece from Helsinki, Finland. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler.

On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Danish folk tunes arranged and performed by members of the Danish String Quartet.

Full interview, photos and video of the Danish String Quartet.

Aisslinn Nosky is a Canadian violinist who loves music from the 1700s. Despite her passion for traditional music, her signature look is anything but traditional. Nosky's trademark is her is hair, which is bright maraschino red and often kept short and spiky. It's a bold look that goes back to when she had to dye her hair for a role as a punk violinist in a TV commercial. On Monday's Performance Today we'll hear Nosky in her PT solo debut, playing Haydn's Violin Concerto in G Major.

Watch the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with maestro Manfred Honeck and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter open the August 2013 Musikfest Berlin festival.

There are a few graceful, bursting sunrises in music. One by Richard Strauss, which became the iconic soundtrack for the film "2001: A Space Odyssey." And there's one in the ballet "Daphnis and Chloe" by Maurice Ravel. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear a new musical sunrise by American composer John Mackey: "Aurora Awakes."