Performance Today®

On this edition of Performance Today, we'll hear the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert at their summer home in Saratoga Springs, New York. Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads a performance of the Prelude to Act One of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music. In 2017, Esmail drew inspiration from the words of Rumi, a 13th-century Sufi poet: "Religions are many, but God is one. The lamps may be different, but the light is the same." On today's episode, we'll take you to a concert at the University of Georgia to hear the Imani Winds play Reena Esmail's 'The Light is the Same.'

Franz Schubert was shorter than most people, a little self-conscious, and socially awkward. His friends affectionately called him "Schwammerl," the little mushroom. Schubert shared himself with his friends through music that many of us still treasure two centuries later. On today’s show, we’ll hear pianist Orli Shaham play a sonata by Schubert at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City.

On today's show, we'll hear the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert at their summer home in Saratoga Springs, New York. Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads a performance of the Prelude to Act One of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

Clarinetist David Shifrin served as Artistic Director of Chamber Music Northwest for 40 years, and composer David Ludwig wrote a concerto to celebrate Shifrin's artistry and legacy. We'll hear it today—David Shifrin plays the world premiere of Ludwig's Les Adieux at a Chamber Music Northwest event in Portland, Oregon.

Composer Joel Thompson made one rule when he began work on a piece in 2019. He would go through the major news stories each day before working on his composition. Hear the results on this episode of PT: "In Response to the Madness" by Joel Thompson.

So, what is a Piano Puzzler, you might ask? Well, it's a familiar tune that Bruce Adolphe has re-written in the style of a classical composer. See if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Join us for this week’s Piano Puzzler on this episode of Performance Today.

When orchestras work without a conductor, they read each other with eye contact and body language—they know and trust each other. On today's show, we'll take you to a concert in Houston to hear members of the ensemble ROCO play Dvorak's String Serenade...without a conductor.

The young Beethoven borrowed a song that everybody was singing in Vienna, a tune from a popular opera. Beethoven made it very much his own by writing nine playful variations. On today's show, hear an all-star performance of Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio from a concert in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.