Eavesdrop on the forward-thinking pianist as she talks with musical omnivore Rhiannon Giddens, who has just taken over Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road organization.
Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film Requiem for a Dream spawned a musical motif that's rippled through media — and jumpstarted a new career for Clint Mansell, the composer of its haunted score.
This is the first time that the New York Philharmonic has been forced to cancel its entire concert season. No previously scheduled concerts will happen before June 2021.
La Maestra, held in Paris this September, is the first fully realized competition solely for women conductors — an effort to help balance a male-dominated field.
The celebrated soprano died suddenly a year ago, leaving her fans, including one NPR producer, in grief, but with many fond memories.
When young composers explore old musical formulas, exciting things can happen. Mass for the Endangered is a contemporary twist on an ancient tradition.
Opera fans will have to wait another whole year for live performances at the famed New York house. In a press release Wednesday, the Metropolitan Opera says it plans to reopen on Sept. 27, 2021.
In a report released Tuesday evening, Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music said that violinist Lara St. John's account of being raped and sexually abused by her teacher is credible.
Raymond Bisha introduces recordings of J. S. Bach’s cello suites, transcribed for guitar and performed by Jeffrey McFadden. Bach himself made arrangements of other composers’ works, as well his own, recycling them for new uses, a practice that continues with these two new volumes. Pablo Casals (1876–1973), Read More ...
Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977) has demonstrated his versatility by writing in a variety of genres, from orchestral and film scores to electronic and multi-media works. Choral music, however, features in much of what he does. The richness of texture and variety of colour in his music for choirs reflects his practice of dividing Read More ...
No lover of classical music from the Romantic period should miss an opportunity to become acquainted with the music of Hans Rott, a little known composer (even in his day), but one who made a significant impact before his untimely death at the age of 25. Improbable though it may seem, it’s likely that not Read More ...
Peter Breiner is one of the world’s most performed composer/arranger/conductors with record sales in the millions and over 200 CD titles to his credit. Slovak Dances, Naughty and Sad, the latest of his many releases for Naxos, consolidates his outstanding reputation as an arranger. It features Breiner’s typically colourful orchestrations that include a wide variety Read More ...
Considering the size of the wind band industry in the United States, the occasion of an established classical composer writing for the medium comes as a rare but highly welcome treat. Raymond Bisha introduces a programme of wind band music by Kenneth Fuchs, during which the American composer describes the progression of his experience and Read More ...
Alexander Kastalsky’s Requiem for Fallen Brothers was written between 1914 and 1917, during World War I, a conflict that killed more than 20 million people and injured even more. Kastalsky achieved poignancy in his memorial by using melodies and texts from many of the countries involved in the war — Russia, Serbia, Italy, England, Japan, Read More ...
In this week’s podcast, Raymond Bisha introduces a 4-CD collection of the complete piano works of Mieczysław Weinberg — from teenage mazurkas written in his native Poland through to his last works for the instrument composed in Moscow. En route, Tashkent, Shostakovich and the Head of the post-Stalin KGB all play a part in the Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a selection from the rich and varied catalogue of chamber works that Beethoven wrote throughout his life. It includes the ‘Archduke’ piano trio, examples of his violin and cello sonatas, and extracts from both his Octet for Wind Instruments and the Septet in E flat major, Op. 20, a work so popular Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a new release of orchestral music by American composer Christopher Rouse, who died in September 2019. It’s a fitting tribute to one who led the revitalisation of contemporary orchestral music with works that ranged from intensely active to wonderfully lyrical. As both a Pullitzer Prize and GRAMMY Award winner, his personal mission Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces Johan Smith, winner of the 2019 Guitar Foundation of America Competition, in a recital that the Swiss artist has described as his dream programme: “It’s an exceptional album in many ways: the music is engaging, the playing is outstanding, and the recorded sound is first-rate. And the artist himself is uniquely intriguing, Read More ...
With Lew Smoley
With Lew Smoley, and Simon Wynberg
With Lew Smoley, and Gerard Schwarz
With Lew Smoley pt. 2
Here is the classic Piano Puzzler, an exclusive bonus for subscribers to the Piano Puzzler newsletter from Performance Today.
Less than 1 percent of the music performed by American orchestras is by a composer of color. Sphinx Organization founder Aaron Dworkin is calling for every U.S. orchestra to have at least 10 percent of its programming be by Black or Latinx composers. It's not hard to do, he says.
Get a free MP3 of Ludwig van Beethoven - Egmont Overture. Can you guess this week's theme? Let us know for a chance to win more free music. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!
University of Minnesota professor Peter Mercer-Taylor is driven to bring early-American hymns back to life as part of a project fueled by a new website and book. And he's looking for choirs to contribute their vocal talents to help the cause.
Get a free MP3 of Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 5: I. Allegro con brio. Can you guess this week's theme? Let us know for a chance to win more free music. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!
In the 1920s, a renaissance happened in Harlem. Black artists inspired each other to make art that expressed an audacious new vision of Black beauty, Black hope, Black truth and Black pride. A century later, Black artists are coming together again. Welcome to Amplify With Lara Downes, intimate conversations with visionary Black musicians.
Scores from some of the best thrillers like The Third Man, Laura, Vertigo and a lot more in our run up to Hollywood Halloween!
Get a free MP3 of Domenico Scarlatti - Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K. 289. Can you guess this week's theme? Let us know for a chance to win more free music. And don't forget to sign up for the Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!