Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

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Harry Partch: seduced into carpentry

Harry Partch: seduced into carpentry

Composer Harry Partch built one-of-a-kind instruments based on his own tuning systems. He described himself as "a philosophic music man seduced into carpentry." We'll hear music by Harry Partch arranged for string quartet on this episode of Performance Today.

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko

23-year-old Canadian pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko is having a breakthrough year | over the past six months, he's won five gold medals at international piano competitions. On this edition of Performance Today, we'll hear from his gold-medal-winning performance in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

PT Weekend: Tania León

PT Weekend: Tania León

The Acana tree can grow up to 90 feet, standing tall over wide-spreading roots. Its remarkably strong wood is essential to Cuban life and society. On today's show, hear music inspired by this majestic tree: Acana by the 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León.

Wang Jie: The Winter that United Us

Wang Jie: The Winter that United Us

Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York, is a magical place for composer Wang Jie. She says she feels transported by the warm orange glow of the hall, and she wrote a piece for the Buffalo Philharmonic to play in that space. Join us today to hear the world premiere of The Winter that United Us by Wang Jie.

A new take on the Danse Macabre

A new take on the Danse Macabre

Join us for a wildly creative new version of the Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens, featuring the Anderson and Roe Piano Duo (and friends) from a concert at the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Tania León: Acana

Tania León: Acana

The Acana tree can grow up to 90 feet, standing tall over wide-spreading roots. Its remarkably strong wood is essential to Cuban life and society. On today's show, hear music inspired by this majestic tree: Acana by the 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León.

Libby Larsen: Emergence

Libby Larsen: Emergence

It goes around and around: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and the cycle repeats. So, would music inspired by the ecological water cycle also have no beginning or end? We'll find out with music by Libby Larsen on this edition of Performance Today.

Toby Appel

Toby Appel

Toby Appel is one of the top viola players around, and he’s also an excellent chef. Appel spent several years running a restaurant in Santa Fe, and, for a year, he was the personal chef for the artist Georgia O'Keeffe.  Join us today to hear chef Toby Appel and friends play the Phantasy Quintet by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

PT Weekend: A gift like no other

PT Weekend: A gift like no other

It's an incredibly romantic and real story: a husband wrote a piece for his wife to honor their newborn boy. He secretly hired musicians to play it outside her bedroom door on the morning of her birthday (which also happened to be Christmas). Join us to hear that piece, the Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner, on this edition of Performance Today.