Special Programs/Mini Series

Performance Today host Fred Child and a group of co-host kids, tell stories and listen to classical music together that is inspired by animal friends, how they sound, how they move, who they are and what they do.  It's fun, friendly, family-oriented frolic in our musical zoo!

This spiritual, haunting Vespers program is an a cappella setting of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-Night Vigil ceremony, perfectly suited to the Easter season.  

Written in 1724, J. S. Bach's St. John Passion is part of the German Lutheran passion-oratorio tradition.  The passion narrative from the Gospel of John is recounted by the Evangelist (narrator), Jesus, Peter, Pilate and various servants.  In this performance, recorded at Asbury First United Methodist Church in March 2019, Rochester's chamber choir VOICES performs with soloists and orchestra, all under the direction of Dr. William Weinert.  Ruth Phinney is your host.

Daily 12/22-12/29 approximately 2:56-3:00pm

The Jewish holiday of Chanukah – the Festival of Lights – is celebrated over the course of eight nights. In a series of radio vignettes called The Eight Nights of Chanukah, WQXR’s Naomi Lewin tells the stories, and talks about the customs of the holiday, including the Chanukah miracle, lighting the menorah, traditional foods, and why Chanukah is so hard to spell. Each of The Eight Nights of Chanukah also contains music for the holiday.

The winners of this year’s David Hochstein Recital Competition were Andrew Guo, a Frisbee-playing violinist who edits his school newspaper, and Sam Reeder, a track-running clarinetist and mathematician who has created his own language. 

You can hear them on the radio Wednesday November 27th, at noon (and again at 10pm) as Live from Hochstein takes a break for the Thanksgiving week holiday. They were recorded in concert at The Hochstein School on May 10th 2019 by Carl Pultz of Alembic Productions.

2:00pm Thanksgiving with The American Sound: Let Us Break Bread Together

11/28    A companion is, literally, someone with whom one breaks bread. On this holiday of family and feasting, Thanksgiving with The American Sound pays tribute in American music and meaningful stories to the time-honored tradition of breaking bread with others.

6:00pm Thanksgiving with The American Sound: Pilgrim’s Rest

11/28    Thanksgiving is a time to rest from the labors of life’s journey. Enjoy a restful, refreshing hour of American music.

12:00pm           By and By: Journeying and Gathering

11/30    Since America’s first Thanksgiving, journeying has been one of Thanksgiving’s key ingredients. Whether criss-crossing the country on a series of airplanes, or driving to a Thanksgiving destination, there’s always a sense of leaving where you are in joyful anticipation of gathering wherever those you love most may be. Enjoy an hour of beautiful music for peaceful Thanksgiving journeying and gathering – Stephen Paulus’ gorgeous arrangement of We Gather Together, Robert Ashford’s lovely chamber work Rise and Fall and Peaceful Rest, Anonymous 4 with Shall We Gather at the River, Ning Kam’s sizzling Variations on Amazing Grace and Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw’s moving By and By.

Current music director of the Los Angeles Opera and principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony of Turin, Italy, James Conlon has had an international career that has taken him to the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the city of Cologne, and the Cincinnati May and Ravinia festivals.

The shofar, a trumpet made from a ram’s horn, has been heard in synagogues all over the world during the Jewish High Holidays since time immemorial. It has also been heard outside those contexts as a call to battle or a way for shepherds to summon their flocks.

The primeval, evocative sounds of the shofar have captivated many classical composers and its powerful influence shows up in places you might not expect. Elgar, Bernstein, Gershwin, and Golijov have all emulated the shofar in their music, and to this day composers continue to be inspired by its sound and history.