Freds Favorites

Romanian pianist Ursuleasa died recently. She was just 33 years old. In 2008, Ursuleasa joined host Fred Child for an engaging conversation and performed music by Chopin and Rachmaninoff.

In 2010, Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva took the music world by storm when she won the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. She's been incredibly busy ever since, playing concerts and recitals all over the world. One of her recent stops was to the PT studios. In her interview with host Fred Child, she talks about her love of Chopin, of travel, and one of the secrets to her success in Warsaw (try not to focus on the judges).

It's a rare treat to have British pianist Imogen Cooper in the Performance Today studio this Friday. She's world-renowned as a Franz Schubert expert, but this time Cooper joins host Fred Child to talk about one of Schubert's heros: Ludwig van Beethoven. Tune in to Friday's PT to hear Cooper play Beethoven and to spend a delightful half hour with a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Two years ago, the Parker Quartet was just out of school, just learning the ropes of their professional careers and just named PT's first Young Artists in Residence. Since then, they've earned praise for their concerts all over the world and won a Grammy Award. Recently they joined Fred Child in the studio for a little reunion of music and conversation.

The members of the Bergen Woodwind Quintet aren't just chamber music colleagues. They also play together as the principal winds of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. All that togetherness makes for a heightened sense of musical ESP, and some spectacular music-making. The BWQ joined host Fred Child in the PT studio for two days of lively conversation and works by Giuseppe Cambini and Jim Parker.

Fred Child recently interviewed Aaron Dworkin, the founder and president of the Sphinx Organization, about the value of diversity in art. He's written a new memoir titled Uncommon Rhythm about his experience as a violinist of mixed race and as a leader in developing young classical musicians.

"This music is so expressive," pianist Simone Dinnerstein says, "it sounds as if it's about to break into song, or, in this case, 'break into text.'" She joins Fred Child in the studio to talk about musical narratives and play pieces by Bach and by Daniel Felsenfed inspired by Leonard Cohen.

Paul Jacobs is one of this country's greatest organists and for the first time ever, he plays in the PT studios. An organ? In the studio? Listen to the interview with Fred Child to find out how, and to Jacob's performance to discover the truly infinite variety of sounds and textures that are possible with this instrument.