Performance Today®

Every summer a professional string quartet from New York City travels to the most remote area in the lower 48 states, the northeast corner of Arizona. They meet high school students from the Navajo and Hopi nations, as part of the Native American Composer Apprentice Project, which is part of the Grand Canyon Music Festival. But -- who is teaching whom? We'll hear from Navajo composer Mike Begay, and from members of the string quartet ETHEL. It's part two of this month's Performance Today feature "Music That Matters."

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida has one of the most expressive faces in classical music. Vaulted brows, piercing eyes. Her features sometimes seem to have multiple emotions dancing across them at once. She brings that same depth and breadth of expression to playing piano. Mitsuko Uchida joins conductor Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic in concert in Berlin, playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. And Part 1 of this month's "Music That Matters" feature: Native American high school students from rural Arizona and Utah meeting a string quartet from New York, and writing their own works for quartet, thanks to the Native American Composers Apprentice Project at the Grand Canyon Music Festival.

Ravi Shankar, the great Indian sitar player and composer, is 90 years old today. Still composing, still playing, still touring, even. He just wrapped up a tour of New Zealand and Australia. We'll celebrate his birthday by revisiting the world premiere performance of his newest sitar concerto, featuring daughter Anoushka Shankar as the soloist, along with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida's playing has been described using all the usual superlatives, but the word that seems to crop up most often is "poetic." Uchida shares her poetry with conductor Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, in a performance of Beethoven's second piano concerto. And she'll be back again on Thursday's show for Beethoven's third concerto, from the same concert.

Venezuela's Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra does a great job playing big, high-energy pieces. But at the recent Lucerne Easter Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland, they were able to show off their sensitive side as well. They gave a rousing performance of Tchaikovsky's sixth symphony, under the baton of conductor Claudio Abbado. Known for its mix of energy and pathos, Tchaikovsky's final symphony got its nickname "Pathetique" from the composer's brother Modest, at breakfast one Sunday morning.

Pianist Murray Perahia's playing has been described using words like "flawless" and "transcendent." In today's show, Perahia joins host Fred Child for an in-studio conversation about Bach and Chopin. He shares his thoughts on Bach's music ("full of emotions, but not Romantic"), and the ways that Bach influenced Chopin. He'll play part of a Bach partita and two Chopin works.

Two of the world's major religions are in the midst of major holidays today, the Jewish Passover and the Christian Good Friday. In observance of Passover, Sergei Prokofiev's "Overture on Hebrew Themes" from Music@Menlo. And in observance of Good Friday, we'll go to a performance of Handel's "Messiah" in Berlin. Plus, our weekly 21st century work is a world premiere from Down Under.

Critics were divided over Maurice Ravel's string quartet when it premiered. Some hated it. One critic said it had "about as much emotional nuance as an algebra problem." But Claude Debussy wrote to Ravel saying: "In the name of all the gods of music, and for my sake, don't change a note of what you have written." Luckily, Ravel listened to Debussy, and didn't change a thing. In today's show, PT's artists-in-residence, the Parker Quartet, plays Ravel's controversial masterpiece.

We began March with a tribute to Frederic Chopin on his 200th birthday, and we've been bringing you great Chopin (and Chopin-inspired) performances all month. Today, we wrap up the celebration. Pianist Rafal Blechacz performs Chopin's second piano concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, Poland. And pianist Garrick Ohlsson plays the first concerto at a gala concert on Chopin's birthday in Warsaw.