Performance Today®

We're celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month here on PT, inviting some of our favorite Latin musicians to pick out some music to share. We recently spoke with violist Paul Laraia of the Catalyst Quartet - we'll hear his musical suggestions for Hispanic Heritage Month on today's show.

During the height of the pandemic, American composer Missy Mazzoli read about the history of medieval healing rituals, which was the inspiration behind a new piece of music. Join us today to hear Procession, a violin concerto by Missy Mazzoli.

The Manhattan skyline, the majesty of the Teton Mountains, and indigenous communities living in the American West. Those are some of the elements that inspired a musical reflection on our nation: American Scene by William Grant Still.

In 2016, pianist and composer Gabriela Montero wrote what she describes as "a portrait of Latin American in all its splendor." On today's show, we'll hear Montero's Piano Concerto No. 1 ("Latin Concerto") with Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting the Orchestra of the Americas.

Composer Gabriela Lena Frank says when she discovered Alberto Ginastera's music, a whole new range of expressive possibilities opened up for her. Gaby Lena Frank helps us celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with music from Argentina: Alberto Ginastera’s String Quartet No. 2.

Grazyna Bacewicz was a composer in Poland in the mid-20th century. Even during the Second World War, she was part of an underground concert scene. We'll hear a piece she wrote in Warsaw in the middle of 1943 on this episode of Performance Today.

In 2016, pianist and composer Gabriela Montero wrote what she describes as "a portrait of Latin American in all its splendor." On today's show, we'll hear Montero's Piano Concerto No. 1 ("Latin Concerto") with Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting the Orchestra of the Americas.

Cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and the winner of the Senior Division of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition. He is also a 2022 Performance Today Young Artist in Residence! Join us today for music and conversation with Sterling Elliott.

Astor Piazzolla's music defies category. It's inspired by the tango dance music he grew up with, but he added classical and jazz elements and gave his band members room to add their own ideas and improvisations. On today's show, we'll hear a recording of "Concierto Para Quinteto," from what Piazzolla said was the greatest album of his life.