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Performance Today
Performance Today is a classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and currently hosted by Valerie Kahler. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listeners on 237 stations. It builds its two-hour daily broadcast (some stations broadcast only one hour) from live concert performances from around the world. It airs from the American Public Media (APM) studios in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and frequently simulcasts special programs from festivals and public radio stations around the country.
The show also airs in-studio performances and interviews. Until October 2025, weekly features included the popular “Piano Puzzler” segment with composer Bruce Adolphe.
Through the PT Young Artist in Residence program, the show highlights young soloists from American conservatories who have the potential for great careers. Former Performance Today young artists include pianists Orli Shaham, Jeremy Denk, and Jonathan Biss, guitarist Jason Vieaux, and violinist Colin Jacobsen among many others.
Performance Today was created by National Public Radio (NPR), and went on the air in 1987. The program was founded by NPR vice president for cultural programming Dean Boal, who gave Performance Today its name, and who, along with NPR colleagues Doug Bennet, Jane Couch, Ellen Boal, and retired Baldwin Piano Company president Lucien Wulsin, secured the series' initial funding. NPR produced and distributed the program from Washington, D.C. until 2007. For most of its first two years, under executive producer Wesley Horner and hosts Kathryn Loomans and Liane Hansen, it combined classical music with numerous and wide-ranging arts features. In 1989, the focus shifted exclusively to classical music.
Martin Goldsmith then hosted for nearly ten years; he left in October 1999. During Goldsmith's tenure as host the show grew from 40 stations to 230, with weekly listeners reaching 1.5 million. The show won a Peabody Award in 1998.
Fred Child served as the program's host from October 2000 until October 2025. In January 2007, American Public Media took over as the program's producer and distributor and moved the production to Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 2007, the show was awarded the Karl Haas Prize for Music Education by Fine Arts Radio International. In 2014, Performance Today won a Gabriel Award for artistic achievement.
On November 3, 2025, Valerie Kahler officially took over as the new host of Performance Today. Kahler had previously served as a frequent guest host on the program, as well as a host and producer for APM’s Classical 24.
Each year, Performance Today invites musicians from top American conservatories to visit the PT studios for a week-long residency. They join the program's hosts in the studio to play music, discuss their backgrounds, their ambitions, and what it means to be a musician.
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Performance Today
Performance Today is a classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and currently hosted by Valerie Kahler. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listeners on 237 stations. It builds its two-hour daily broadcast (some stations broadcast only one hour) from live concert performances from around the world. It airs from the American Public Media (APM) studios in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and frequently simulcasts special programs from festivals and public radio stations around the country.
The show also airs in-studio performances and interviews. Until October 2025, weekly features included the popular “Piano Puzzler” segment with composer Bruce Adolphe.
Through the PT Young Artist in Residence program, the show highlights young soloists from American conservatories who have the potential for great careers. Former Performance Today young artists include pianists Orli Shaham, Jeremy Denk, and Jonathan Biss, guitarist Jason Vieaux, and violinist Colin Jacobsen among many others.
Performance Today was created by National Public Radio (NPR), and went on the air in 1987. The program was founded by NPR vice president for cultural programming Dean Boal, who gave Performance Today its name, and who, along with NPR colleagues Doug Bennet, Jane Couch, Ellen Boal, and retired Baldwin Piano Company president Lucien Wulsin, secured the series' initial funding. NPR produced and distributed the program from Washington, D.C. until 2007. For most of its first two years, under executive producer Wesley Horner and hosts Kathryn Loomans and Liane Hansen, it combined classical music with numerous and wide-ranging arts features. In 1989, the focus shifted exclusively to classical music.
Martin Goldsmith then hosted for nearly ten years; he left in October 1999. During Goldsmith's tenure as host the show grew from 40 stations to 230, with weekly listeners reaching 1.5 million. The show won a Peabody Award in 1998.
Fred Child served as the program's host from October 2000 until October 2025. In January 2007, American Public Media took over as the program's producer and distributor and moved the production to Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 2007, the show was awarded the Karl Haas Prize for Music Education by Fine Arts Radio International. In 2014, Performance Today won a Gabriel Award for artistic achievement.
On November 3, 2025, Valerie Kahler officially took over as the new host of Performance Today. Kahler had previously served as a frequent guest host on the program, as well as a host and producer for APM’s Classical 24.
Each year, Performance Today invites musicians from top American conservatories to visit the PT studios for a week-long residency. They join the program's hosts in the studio to play music, discuss their backgrounds, their ambitions, and what it means to be a musician.