Performance Today®

In 2022, the Apollo Chamber Players commissioned a work by composer Wang Jie. Wang Jie, also trained as an organist, wrote the piece for the unusual combination of pipe organ and string quartet. On today's show, we'll hear the Apollo Chamber Players and organist Daryl Robinson play the world premiere of The Night When You See Again by Wang Jie.

A few years ago, violinist and arranger Colin Jacobsen stumbled across a scratchy old recording of a traditional klezmer tune called Haneros Haluli ('These Lights'). Jacobsen says that the music went straight to his heart. We'll hear Colin Jacobsen and The Knights play Jacobsen's own arrangement of Haneros Haluli on today's show.

Join us for a special hour co-hosted by Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, our 2023 PT Classical Woman of the Year. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us for this week's Piano Puzzler!

Join us for a special hour co-hosted by Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, our 2023 PT Classical Woman of the Year. What a treat!

At the age of 35, English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams went to Paris to study with Maurice Ravel. They worked together intensely for several months, after which Ravel gave him a great compliment. He said Vaughan Williams was his only student who didn't try to write exactly like Ravel himself. On today's show, we'll take you to Charleston, South Carolina, to hear the Piano Quintet by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

St. Nicholas Day, celebrated on December 6th, commemorates the life of Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop known for his generosity and kindness. The holiday is the traditional start of the Christmas season in many countries, including a few pockets of the United States. We'll commemorate St. Nicholas Day on this episode of Performance Today.

Christian Zacharias began his stellar career as a solo pianist. He then became a conductor, leading orchestras around the world. But Zacharias also wants to do the occasional tour as a solo pianist again. On today's show, we'll hear how Christian Zacharias balances his life as a conductor and soloist, and we'll hear him play Haydn's Piano Sonata No. 62 at a concert at Spivey Hall in Morrow, Georgia.

27-year-old Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason is having a banner year. She released her third major-label solo album and had her solo debut at the BBC Proms... and that's just scratching the surface. On today's show, we'll hear Isata Kanneh-Mason play a piece that many writers and critics felt was the highlight of her Fall tour: the Piano Sonata No. 3 by Frederic Chopin.

Navajo pianist and composer Connor Chee recently wrote a piece inspired by the Navajo Code Talkers. Chee’s new work traces the brave journey of the Code Talkers through eleven minutes of music. Join us today to hear 'Unbroken' by Connor Chee.