Aug 28th, 2008 · Haimovitz's idea of the "classics" includes Bach, Beethoven and, yes, classic rock. He talks to Performance Today host Fred Child about taking musical risks, and offers up a passionate studio performance of music by Bach.
Jul 3rd, 2008 · Pianist, composer and conductor Robert Kapilow joins Fred Child to explore why this simple and direct song has the ability to touch us so deeply.
Jun 30th, 2008 · In 1876, Tchaikovsky composed musical snapshots of each month of the calendar year for publication in a St. Petersburg magazine. Pianist Wu Han performs the entire cycle, and discusses the music with Performance Today host Fred Child in NPR's studio.
Aug 23rd, 2007 · An Etude is basically a practice piece, designed to improve a certain aspect of technique. But the Etudes Claude Debussy composed go far beyond that. Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard unfolds the layers of colorful detail in Debussy's Etudes, in the studio with host Fred Child.
Dec 29th, 2006 · On New Year's Eve, singer Audra McDonald will ask and answer a question at the same time, by singing "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" with the New York Philharmonic. In this video segment, Performance Today host Fred Child talks with McDonald about her last concert of 2006.
Oct 27th, 2006 · "Sing It and Wing It" is what pianist Gabriela Montero does at the end of most of her concerts. A member of the audience sings her a song and she improvises on it. She does one in the studio for us, as an example. If you'd like to try one, send Fred Child an email at pt@npr.org.
Oct 11th, 2006 · The music world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Juilliard Quartet Wednesday. Host Fred Child talks with the quartet's first violinist, Joel Smirnoff. And, from a 1987 Juilliard Quartet recording, we hear Bach's Contrapuncti Nos. 2, 7 and 9 from The Art of the Fugue.
Oct 6th, 2006 · Rolf Lislevand plays 17th-century music, but in an open, improvisatory style. He joins Fred Child in NPR's Studio 4A to play a set of gentle music on baroque guitar, and to talk about his conviction that improvisation lies at the heart of this music.