Performance Today®

In 1933, German composer Paul Frankenburger left Germany and moved to Palestine. He changed his name from Frankenburger to Ben-Haim and later wanted to be remembered not as a German composer but as a Jewish composer of Jewish music. Hear works by Paul Ben-Haim on this episode of Performance Today.

Germaine Tailleferre was determined to be a musician, and her father tried to stop her. She rebelled so completely that she even changed her name and went on to a 70-year career as a composer. We'll hear the String Quartet by French composer Germaine Tailleferre on today's show.

Two decades after he wrote his Negro Folk Symphony, composer William Dawson traveled to West Africa. Based on what he heard there, he revised his music to convey “...the missing elements that were lost when Africans came into bondage outside their homeland." On today's show, hear Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony played by The Orchestra Now with conductor Leon Botstein.

Ukrainian composer Hanna Havrylets wrote choral and chamber music until her death in 2022. Her family says her music reflects her personality: bright, loving, and full of light...and her music lives on. We'll hear music by Hanna Havrylets on this episode of PT.

The ballet world is filled with images of graceful, colorful birds: Swan Lake. The Firebird. A famous bluebird in Sleeping Beauty. And a ballet about pigeons? On today's show, we'll hear music from The Two Pigeons, a ballet written in 1886 by French composer Andre Messager.

Argentine bandoneon player JP Jofre remembers hearing music by Astor Piazzolla for the first time. He says, "It was classical, and it was tango, and it had the power of heavy metal. I knew this was what I wanted to do." Join us today to hear JP Jofre and friends play music by Astor Piazzolla from a concert at the Geneva Music Festival in Geneva, NY.

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.

Danny Elfman may be most famous for writing the theme for the long-running animated TV show The Simpsons. So, how did he go from The Simpsons to writing music for a symphony orchestra? Hear Danny Elfman's concerto Eleven Eleven on this episode of Performance Today.

Argentine bandoneon player JP Jofre remembers hearing music by Astor Piazzolla for the first time. He says, "It was classical, and it was tango, and it had the power of heavy metal. I knew this was what I wanted to do." Join us today to hear JP Jofre and friends play music by Astor Piazzolla from a concert at the Geneva Music Festival in Geneva, NY.