Performance Today to Broadcast John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts"

Performance Today to Broadcast John Williams’Äô ’ÄúAir and Simple Gifts’Äù

Hear Momentous Inauguration Day Piece Replayed

(St. Paul, Minn.) January 21, 2009’Äî American Public Media’Ñ¢ today announced that Performance Today¬Æ with host Fred Child will broadcast John Williams’Äô ’ÄúAir and Simple Gifts’Äù on Wednesday’Äôs program. The performance will also be available online at www.performancetoday.org.

Just before Barack Obama was sworn in as America’Äôs 44^th president yesterday, violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gabriela Montero performed the premiere of ’ÄúAir and Simple Gifts,’Äù composed for the occasion by John Williams.

American Public Media’Äôs Performance Today is broadcast on public radio stations across the country and is heard by more than one million listeners each week.

Performance Today features live concerts by famous artists in concert halls around the globe and from the American Public Media studios as well as interviews, news and features. Listeners to Performance Today, on any given day, may hear from performances in the great concert halls of New York, Prague, London, Berlin and Paris.

To find out where and when Performance Today is broadcast in your area, please visit www.performancetoday.org.

American Public Media is the nation's second-largest producer of public radio programs, reaching 15.9 million listeners nationwide each week. National programs include A Prairie Home Companion®, Weekend America,® Saint Paul Sunday,® Marketplace,® Marketplace Money,® The Splendid Table,® Speaking of Faith® and special reports produced by its national documentary unit, American RadioWorks®. American Public Media is the parent organization for Minnesota Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio and Classical South Florida. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be found at www.americanpublicmedia.org.