Performance Today®

On today's show, pianist Jon Kimura Parker and the Minnesota Orchestra tackle what Parker calls a "brilliant" piece of music: the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

The young Aaron Copland went to Paris to study composition, and his teacher told him, "You'll do your best work if you explore what it means to be American." The 25-year-old Copland took that advice and returned to New York. We'll hear pianist John Novacek play Copland's Four Piano Blues on today's show.

On this episode of Performance Today, we introduce you to our first 2023 PT Young Artist in Residence, saxophonist Salvador Flores. Salvador joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our studio in St. Paul. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler.

Undine Smith Moore (1904 – 1989) was an American composer and music educator. Known as the "Dean of Black Women Composers," Moore was a prolific composer, creating works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. We'll hear the Mallarme Chamber Players play the Afro-American Suite by Undine Smith Moore on today's show.

When Stewart Goodyear was a child, he spent quite a few summers with his family in Trinidad, where he was immersed in the sounds of calypso. Now, as a grown-up pianist and composer, he's combined calypso with classical music. We'll hear that combination on today's show: Callaloo by Stewart Goodyear.

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.

There's romantic love, of course, but love means so much more than that...familial love, the loyalty of friends, the care for our communities, and even the love we can cultivate for ourselves. Join us today for music that can evoke all these feelings this Valentine’s Day and any other day of the year.

We're proud to introduce you to our first 2022-2023 PT Young Artist in Residence: Saxophonist Salvador Flores. Salvador recently joined Fred Child at the Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Recording Studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. Hear the conversation and music right here!

We'll introduce you to saxophonist Salvador Flores, one of our 2023 PT Young Artists in Residence, on today's show. Salvador joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our studio in St. Paul.