Performance Today®

What would you do if you met someone famous? Would you keep your cool and calmly shake hands? Or...are you the type of person who would get too excited and trip on your own feet? On today's show, find out how composer Robert Kahn reacted when he met Johannes Brahms.

According to the famous song, whenever "The Girl from Ipanema" passes someone, they respond:  "Ahhh." Composer Dylan Schneider drew inspiration from that moment in a new piece filled with bossa nova and the enchanting sounds of the Amazon rainforest. Join us today to hear the Cassatt String Quartet perform "Goes A-H-H-H" by Dylan Schneider from a concert at the Seal Bay Festival in Vinalhaven, Maine.

Jory Lane is the latest in the 2023 cohort of PT Young Artists in Residence. He began his musical journey playing bluegrass and Celtic music in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and continued to the Eastman School of Music, where he graduated this spring. Jory recently joined Fred Child in our St. Paul studio; listen in to learn more about this exciting young musician.

Violinist Jory Lane began his musical journey playing bluegrass and Celtic music in Colorado Springs and continued to the Eastman School of Music, where he graduated this spring. He is now one of our 2023 PT Young Artists in Residence. Jory Lane recently joined Fred Child in our St. Paul studio; tune in today to learn more about this exciting young musician.

Composer Inocente Carreño was born in 1919 on a little Venezuelan island called Margarita. On today's show, hear the music he wrote in tribute to his beloved home island: "Margariteña" by Inocente Carreño.

There's a musical puzzle at the heart of the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar. Cryptographers have been working on cracking the code for a century. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll share some of the many possible solutions... and enjoy a great performance of Elgar's Enigma Variations, from the Aspen Music Festival.

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game, our Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. We get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with the PT Piano Puzzler on this episode of Performance Today.

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho died this past June at the age of 70. Her compositions explored themes of nature, spirituality, and human emotions, captivating audiences with their evocative and atmospheric soundscapes. On today's show, we'll hear a concerto for flute and orchestra that was inspired by the flight of birds: Aile du Songe (Wing of the Dream) by Kaija Saariaho.

James Ehnes loves to play Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Ehnes says the piece has "…such a unique mix of lyricism and virtuosity...there's nothing quite like it in the repertoire." Join us today to hear James Ehnes play Prokofiev's second concerto in concert with the Minnesota Orchestra.