Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Alexis Alrich: Marimba Concerto

Alexis Alrich: Marimba Concerto

Join us today to hear a new marimba concerto by composer Alexis Alrich, with Dame Evelyn Glennie on the marimba with conductor Jean Thorel leading the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.

Debussy's String Quartet in G Minor

Debussy's String Quartet in G Minor

Claude Debussy completed what many consider to be his first important work, his String Quartet in G Minor. The composition follows the traditional string quartet form, but the music within was something completely new. On today's show, hear the Schumann Quartet perform Debussy's only string quartet from a concert at the Music@Menlo chamber music festival and institute.

Kenji Bunch: 'The 3 Gs'

Kenji Bunch: 'The 3 Gs'

Kenji Bunch gave one of his recent compositions a rather unusual title. Join us today to hear this piece and the story behind that title: 'The 3 Gs' by Kenji Bunch.

A blessing of unicorns

A blessing of unicorns

Concert curator Geoff Nuttall loves cellos. Can't get enough of them. But he says that getting four cellists onstage at the same time is like trying to get four unicorns together. On today's show, a rare sighting: four all-star cellists at the Spoleto Festival USA perform "When the Night" by Paul Wiancko.

PT Weekend: Anais Feller

PT Weekend: Anais Feller

Meet Performance Today’s next PT Young Artist, 16-year-old violinist Anais Feller. Host Fred Child and Anais spoke over Zoom, with musical selections recorded for PT at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Listen now.

Grażyna Bacewicz

Grażyna Bacewicz

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.

A musical depiction of the Silk Road

A musical depiction of the Silk Road

The Silk Road carried trade goods between Europe and China, but it also carried culture and ideas. Join us today and hear music inspired by the Silk Road by Zhao Jiping from a concert in Guiyang, China.

Performance Today in the Classroom: Anais Feller

Performance Today in the Classroom: Anais Feller

Each year, Performance Today serves schools across the Twin Cities with its Young Artist in Residence Program. Today's virtual PT in the Classroom Music Lesson features PT Young Artist in Residence Anais Feller.

Anthony McGill and Gloria Chien

Anthony McGill and Gloria Chien

Gloria Chien and Anthony McGill are both as busy as can be; Chien runs three festivals, and McGill is the principal clarinet in the New York Philharmonic. But they still make time to play as a duet. On today’s show, Gloria Chien and Anthony McGill play from the Grand Duo Concertant by Carl Maria von Weber.