The new opera by Tazewell Thompson and Jeanine Tesori tells the story of a couple in Harlem who are forced to confront their teenage son's sudden death by police violence. Continue Reading New Opera ‘Blue’ Takes On The Tragedy Of A Police Read More
Music
Twenty five years after he scored the original The Lion King, which won an Oscar, Hans Zimmer returns to Pride Rock to revisit the classic musical themes for a re-imagined tale. Continue Reading 25 Years After Scoring Read More
A recent Pop Culture Happy Hour trip to New York took the team to see Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera. A jester in a rat pack? We saw it. Continue Reading ‘Rigoletto’ In Vegas And The Pleasures Of The Metropolitan Read More
The pioneering South African singer, songwriter and activist died Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Continue Reading Johnny Clegg, A Uniting Voice Against Apartheid, Dies At 66Read More
Ephraim Bugumba was 3 years old when his family fled violence in the Republic of the Congo. His song "Voices in My Head," was a standout entry in NPR Music's Tiny Desk Contest. Continue Reading Processing Pain Through Read More
Dolly Parton's classic singalong aims a catchy beat at a serious point, listing the ways the daily grind exploits and exhausts people — some more than others. Continue Reading American Anthem: A Cup Of Ambition And Read More
Don and Marianna Matteson visited the NWPB studios to dedicate the Don and Marianna Matteson Digital Music Library on July 2. You may have heard it announced on air, or perhaps you caught the Mattesons themselves being interviewed by Anjuli Dodhia that day. It was a momentous occasion for NWPB. The library naming honors and… Read More
The Brazilian singer and guitarist, who won wide acclaim for his abundant technical skill and minimalist style, was behind one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, 1964's Getz/Gilberto. Continue Reading João Gilberto, Master Of Bossa Nova, Dies Read More
The official anthem of the capital city, "En Mi Viejo San Juan" also serves as a nostalgic lament, evoking memories of the island for the many forced to leave it behind. Continue Reading American Anthem: For Those Missing Puerto Read More
A prolific force in Americana, beloved and emulated by Nashville royalty, the couple is back with its first album together in a decade — guided, as always, by a powerful but adaptable partnership. Continue Reading Missed For Read More
The PBS NewsHour recently spoke to Erika Ryann, who is based in Larskpur, Colorado, while on a solo tour. She has been performing and writing for the last 15 years, currently plays both solo and in five other bands, and is releasing her first solo album this coming winter. Read More
NPR's Sarah McCammon speaks with Adrian Enscoe, Sydney Shepherd and Regina Strayhorn, members of the band Bandits on the Run and stand-out entrants in this year's Tiny Desk Contest. Continue Reading Bandits On The Run Band Brings Read More
Rider University had planned to sell Westminster Choir College to the China-based Kaiwen Education, but now says it will only move Westminster out of its valuable property in Princeton, N.J. Continue Reading Chinese Company Backs Out Of Read More
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with legendary South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim about his latest album, The Balance. Continue Reading Finding ‘The Balance’: Jazz Legend Abdullah Ibrahim Looks To Read More
Ever since a 17-year-old Lesley Gore sang it in 1963, the coolly mutinous song has moved women to reject passive femininity. Its writers, though, say there are layers of resistance in its words. Continue Reading American Anthem: Read More
Augustin Hadelich dazzles in an album of odd bedfellows, which pairs Johannes Brahms' romantic war horse with György Ligeti's modernist stunner. Continue Reading MUSIC REVIEW: Opposites Attract With Two Violin Concertos In Read More
Music historian James Karst explains his recent research into the early life of the legendary Louis Armstrong. Continue Reading Satchmo In His Adolescence: 1915 Film Clip May Show Young Louis ArmstrongRead More
The bestselling 1970s book The Secret Life of Plants has been effectively debunked — but that hasn't stopped Stevie Wonder, Solange and scores of ambient musicians from chasing its leafy muse. Continue Reading Music For Plants Is Real (Even If The Read More
Wade In The Water contains music featured in the 26-part documentary about gospel music. Continue Reading Wade In The Water: A History Of Gospel MusicRead More
Springsteen's new album connects to a stream of pop balladry that emerged in tandem with Hollywood's turn in the late 1960s toward hippie antiheroes and modern masculinity's fatalistic drift. Continue Reading All He Wanted Was To Read More
Contract and salary negotiations between musicians and management have stalled, leaving BSO players picketing outside their concert hall. Continue Reading Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Locks Out Musicians As Contract Dispute Read More
A proposed change could see more radio stations ending up in the hands of fewer executives, which would have a homogenizing effect on radio dials around the U.S. The thing is, that's already happened. Continue Reading New Proposal Read More
Seattle's music scene has produced a diverse and talented crop of up-and-coming musicians, each of whom makes bold contributions to this vibrant city. Continue Reading Beyond Grunge: 15 Artists Redefining Seattle MusicRead More
Los Angeles-based jazz vocalist Judy Wexler recently released her fifth album, Crowded Heart. Why, in the age of streaming, did she choose to release it solely as a CD? Continue Reading ‘Something To Hold’: Read More
Compared with monkeys, humans have a brain that is extremely sensitive to a sound's pitch. And that may reflect our exposure to speech and music. Continue Reading A Musical Brain May Help Us Understand Language And Appreciate Read More
Ron Howard's new Pavarotti film fails to make us feel much for its subject, and does little to bolster the magical, complicated art called opera. Continue Reading Review: Documentary Film On Luciano Pavarotti Misses All The Right Read More
Over a career stretching back to the 1950s, Malcom John Rebennack came to be a living symbol of the city of New Orleans and its bottomless musical character. Continue Reading Dr. John, Legend of New Orleans Jazz And Jive, Dead At 77Read More
The higher the Dominican singer-songwriter's star rises, the tighter he grips his artistic freedom. The new Candela caps a trio of albums connecting dots between bachata, merengue, trap, pop and more. Continue Reading Vicente García: A Read More
After 18 years, Apple is killing iTunes — sort of. The software is being broken into separate pieces for separate uses on Mac computers: Music, podcasts and TV will soon have their own apps. Continue Reading iTunes’ Death Is All About How We Listen Read More
The financially embattled organization surprised its musicians, and its audience, by shortening its season and cutting the players pay and vacation, it announced Thursday. Continue Reading Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Suddenly Cancels Summer Read More
Gangsta rap had been known as aggressive, rebellious and political, but the Geto Boys' 1991 hit made it something new: vulnerable. Hip-hop's relationship with mental health has never been the same. Continue Reading American Anthem: Read More
In her U.S. debut as Don Giovanni, Lucia Lucas became the first known trans person to sing a principal role on an American opera stage. Continue Reading ‘They Know That I’m The Real Deal’: Transgender Read More
To make his latest album, Omoiyari, the Japanese-American artist decided to turn to the past. He visited Japanese internment camps and made music inspired by the stories he found there. Continue Reading Musician Read More
A solo piano version of "It's Too Late" and a full-band take on "You've Been Around Too Long" were just two of the songs she performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival more than 40 years ago. Continue Reading See Carole King Perform In Newly Read More
The vibraphonist has a "love-hate relationship" with his instrument that has been helpful in perfecting his craft — but it wouldn't mean much without the deep emotional well he pulls from. Continue Reading Joel Ross And His Read More
The film by Erik Nelson honors World War II fighter pilots and is called The Cold Blue. It's being released this Friday, along with Thompson's score, in time for the Memorial Day Weekend. Continue Reading Hear Richard Read More
Harold Arlen's son and his estate are suing Google, Apple, Amazon and scores of record labels for illegally selling and streaming his music. Continue Reading ‘Over The Rainbow’ Composer’s Estate Sues Big Tech And Read More
BBC music broadcaster Stephen Johnson's remarkably diverse aesthetic and personal sensitivity are on full display in his new book on the Russian composer's music — and his own personal struggles. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More
Hailing from Anchorage, Alaska, Christopherson is a thoughtful songwriter with a powerful sense of perspective. Continue Reading Don’t ‘Erase Me’ Says Quinn Christopherson In Winning NPR’s 2019 Tiny Desk Read More
Aisha Fukushima has a story to tell about hip-hop and rap, but it’s not the only story there is. Fukushima, a 2009 graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, returns May 19 to share this story and her world-wide journey as an artist and activist as Whitman’s 2019 commencement speaker.
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Now 88 years old, Cuba's musical matriarch wants to perform for audiences until she dies. "What I have left to live for is smiles," Portuondo says. Continue Reading Cuban Diva Omara Portuondo Feels As Strong As Ever On ‘Last Read More
The video is a true tear-jerker, driving home the song's rawest emotions by depicting motherhood's joys and drudgery with equal affection and care. Continue Reading ‘The Mother’ From Northwest Native Brandi Read More
Petty's song has been used by striking workers in defiance, by political candidates to show grit, on national stages in the aftermath of tragedy. We asked what "I Won't Back Down" means to you. Continue Reading American Anthem: Tom Read More
Steve Inskeep speaks with superstar pianist Lang Lang about his new album, Piano Book, a reexamination of the classical music repertory he learned as child. Continue Reading From A Piano Virtuoso, A Classical Album To Accompany Read More
New Orleans has a fairly spotty track record when it comes to preserving cultural landmarks, but Buddy Bolden's blighted former residence may avoid being lost to time, as he nearly was. Continue Reading Preserving The New Read More
In Melbourne for its eighth iteration, the All-Star Global Concert brought together marquee names in jazz around a concert program of international, but borderless, collaboration. Continue Reading Herbie Hancock Aims All-Star Jazz Day Read More
Smithsonian Folkways archivist and Pete Seeger expert Jeff Place talks about Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, due out on what would have been Seeger's 100th birthday. Continue Reading Folk Singer Pete Read More
One of the three gorgeous voices at the heart of Mountain Man, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig releases her first solo album, Dawnbreaker, on June 28. Hear the title track. Continue Reading Mountain Man Singer Reinvents Herself In Solo Act, Read More
The Dentsu Aegis Network, which had been funding the ambitious, three-day 50th-anniversary music festival with headliners including Jay-Z and Santana, says that the August event will not happen. Continue Reading Woodstock 50 Canceled By Its InvestorsRead More
The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge became a household name in 2016, not for its beautiful scenery or because 300 bird species flock there, but because a militant, anti-government group had taken over headquarters for 41 days, leading to a fatal shooting. Three years later, an Oregon symphony offers music as healing. Read More
