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Fred Child Fred Child is the host of America's most-listened-to classical music radio program, NPR's Performance Today. The program reaches 1.5 million listeners on 250 stations around the country. The program features classical music in concert around the nation and the world, in concert from the NPR studios, and classical music news, interviews, and issues.
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Fred Child

Thursday

Thursday

Performance Today

Holiday Brass

The Pittsburgh Symphony Brass join Fred Child in NPR's Studio 4A this hour to perform holiday selections. The brass is trumpeters George Vosburgh and Neal Berntsen, horn player William Caballero, trombonists Peter Sullivan and Murray Crewe, and tuba player Eric Bubacz (BOO-bahch). They play including a dance from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker," "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" and "What Child is This" -- both arrangements by George Vosburgh -- followed by "Nativity Carol" and "Infant Holy," arrangements by Neal Berntsen.

Holiday Brass

Audio will be available later today.

Wednesday

Thursday

Review

Music Reviews

Violinist Mixes Improv Into Baroque Sonata

Violinist Andrew Manze and harpsichordist Richard Egarr take a sonata by Arcangelo Corelli into new territory — at least for modern audiences. Manze improvises within Corelli's score, as he believes was common practice when it was performed in 1700. Manze and Eggar's new CD is called Corelli Violin Sonatas, Op. 5. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Fred Child.

Violinist Mixes Improv Into Baroque Sonata

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Wednesday

Wednesday

Friday

Friday

Culture

Disney Hall: A New Home for the L.A. Philharmonic

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, is one of the most talked-about new American buildings in decades. The first of three inaugural events took place Thursday night. NPR's Fred Child attended the concert and filed this report.

Disney Hall: A New Home for the L.A. Philharmonic

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Thursday

Performance Today

Schubert Piano Trio

Our week of California performances continues with host Fred Child joining us from Los Angeles. In this segment we hear from Camerata Pacifica, a southern California chamber music series. Roger Wilkie is playing violin, the cellist is John Walz, and the pianist is Edith Orloff. We hear the closing movement of the Piano Trio, Op. 100, by Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Our concert comes from last weekend in Thousand Oaks, California.

Schubert Piano Trio

Audio will be available later today.

Wednesday

Performance Today

Kahane Plays Chopin, 1

Fred Child is in Los Angeles this week, gearing up for the opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall, the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. We're listening in on some other notable California performances all week. Fred hosts this segment from LA, featuring a pianist who's also a conductor. Jeffrey Kahane leads the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. When he's not doing that, he's often giving piano recitals. From one of those performances, we hear him play the Polonaise-Fantasy, Op. 61, by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849).

Kahane Plays Chopin, 1

Audio will be available later today.

Tuesday

All Things Considered

A Digital Companion for Concert Fans

Orchestras are looking for ways to attract new and younger audiences to the concert hall. One solution may be "CoCo" -- the Concert Companion. It's a handheld digital device that displays program notes that are synched with the music. NPR's Fred Child reports on tests of the device at this summer's Aspen Music Festival.

A Digital Companion for Concert Fans

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Monday

Friday