Fred Child
HostFred Child is the host Performance Today, the most-listened-to classical music radio show in America. Fred is also the commentator and announcer for Live from Lincoln Center on PBS, the only live performing arts series on television. He also co-hosted Carnegie Live, a three-year series of national broadcasts from America's premier concert venue. Fred has hosted numerous live national broadcasts, including significant events from New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, and the Aspen Festival.
Fred also hosted NPR's Creators @ Carnegie, a program of wide-ranging performers in concert, including Brian Wilson, David Byrne, Dawn Upshaw, and many others. Before going to NPR, Fred was Music Director and Director of Cultural Programming at WNYC in New York, host of a live daily performance and interview program on WNYC, and for 10 years, a host at Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Fred has reviewed music for NPR's All Things Considered, and has reported on the music scene for NPR's Morning Edition and Weekend Edition. He's been a contributor to Billboard magazine, and a commentator and co-presenter for BBC Radio 3.
He made his acting debut in a performance and video collaboration with composer Philip Glass and violinist Timothy Fain in 2011, and has performed as an actor and narrator for the Aspen Festival, the Virginia Arts Festival, the U.S. Marine Band, and on a best-selling 2016 recording of Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale.
While growing up in Portland, Oregon, Fred studied classical piano. He also dabbles in guitar, percussion, and the bagpipes. His percussion band opened for the Grateful Dead at the Oakland Coliseum. His rare musical performances include percussion with guitarist Sharon Isbin, and piano four-hands duets with Andre-Michel Schub.
Fred loves baseball (throws right, bats left) and is an avid hiker, climber, skier, cyclist, and a licensed private pilot and certified scuba diver.
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The four symphonies by Brahms are like four distinct personalities, ranging from the dark and dramatic to the sunny and lyrical. The great Berlin Philharmonic has this music in its blood. Hear the entire new three-disc set, with conductor Simon Rattle, for the week leading up to its Oct. 6 release.
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The adventurous harpist joins flutist Joshua Smith and violist Cynthia Phelps in the Performance Today studio to explore the musical connections between two impressionist composers — Toru Takemitsu and his hero, Claude Debussy.
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Improvisation is making a comeback in certain corners of the classical world. Early-music specialists honor the tradition of improvising on what the composer wrote, and some young classical musicians who grew up with jazz, rock and world music feel as comfortable with improv as they do with interpretation. -
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.
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Known for its fresh approach to centuries-old music, the baroque band Rebel pays a visit to NPR's studios to play lively music by Telemann that calls for the clarion sound of the valveless baroque trumpet.
