Known early on for his avant-garde works, the composer's challenging music nevertheless found fans far beyond traditional classical music circles. Continue Reading Krzysztof Penderecki, Boundary-Breaking Polish Composer, Dies At 86Read More
Yo-Yo Ma has brought joy to listeners for decades with his virtuosic musicianship. Now, he is using his music to offer some comfort to a global audience in the midst of a pandemic that has sparked widespread anxiety and pain. Read More
Watch the award-winning pianist play a hit by Chopin, a premiere by Thomas Adès and a cherished song by Gershwin dressed in a virtuosic arrangement. Continue Reading Pianist Kirill Gerstein Sits Down At NPR’s Tiny Desk To Read More
The English composer's supernova hit continues to obscure his jaunty, folk inflected St. Paul's Suite. Continue Reading Second-Best Songs: In The Shadow Of ‘The Planets’ Lies Gustav Holst’s Sweet Read More
Thomas Adès' Concerto for Piano and Orchestra riffs on the old classics while speaking in the distinctive voice of a 21st century master composer. Continue Reading A New Piano Concerto For The People May Be The Most Read More
The eclectic composer joins members of the ACME ensemble for some of his most affecting music, which moves the audience to tears. Continue Reading Max Richter Brings Achingly Beautiful Compositions ‘On The Read More
The Grammy-winning Pacifica Quartet is known for their advocacy of contemporary music and for their acclaimed performances of complete quartet cycles by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Carter, and Shostakovich. From their home at Indiana University, Bloomington, they visited Moscow, Idaho in January 2020 for a week of concerts, outreach events and master classes. Read More
Watch the celebrated opera star deconstruct old Italian love songs with her signature flair, backed by a crack jazz ensemble. Continue Reading Opera Star Joyce DiDonato Jazzes Up Classical Songs With Spontaneity Read More
The irrepressible harpist proves that the instrument can be as tempestuous as a tango, as complex as a Bach fugue and sing as serenely as a church choir. Continue Reading Harpist Bridget Kibbey Brings Blistering Bach And Jazzy Read More
NPR Music staffers Marissa Lorusso and Tom Huizenga give out superlatives for the best moments in music this past year, including a single breath of operatic singing and an epic guitar solo. Continue Reading One Big Breath And A Blazing Guitar: Read More
A new book explores the relation between a few key figures in American classical music and U.S. foreign policy in the 20th century. Continue Reading ‘Dangerous Melodies’ Examines Classical Music And American Foreign Read More
For nearly 200 years, Beethoven's epic Ninth Symphony, with its powerful "Ode to Joy," has inspired millions. Now conductor Marin Alsop takes it on a world tour. Continue Reading The Music And Morality Of Beethoven’s Mighty NinthRead More
One of classical music's most beloved and widely heard conductors died Saturday. Born in secret in Nazi-occupied Latvia, he went on to a stunning international career. Continue Reading Famed Latvian Conductor Mariss Jansons Dies At Age 76Read More
They were a classical music hosts who helped make the genre approachable. Bob and Bill started at Northwest Public Radio delighting audiences with their humor and knowledge. Recently, Bob Christenson passed away. Bill Morelock remembers him. Read More
The classicly trained duo — whose real names are Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptist — formed Black Violin and found their unique sound mashing together Bach with Biggie Smalls. Continue Reading Duo ‘Black Violin’ Meshes Hip Hop With Classical Read More
The insightful pianist offers a Beethoven bonanza, ranging from the mesmerizing pulse of the popular "Moonlight" Sonata to flashes of wry humor and tender beauty. Continue Reading Pianist Igor Levit Slips ‘Into The Beethoven Read More
Before any opera purists start wringing their hands, let's remember that the 400-year-old art form has proven itself terrifically adaptable and resilient. Continue Reading Kanye West Announces An Opera (Which Isn’t As Crazy As It Read More
One of Mexico's most renowned classical composers, Ortiz's latest work was commissioned by Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and inspired by Mexico's first liberator of slaves. Continue Reading Gabriela Ortiz’s Read More
What do Gertrude Stein, Billy Joel and Robert Burns have in common? Their words all show up in a new song by Pulitzer-winning composer Caroline Shaw. Continue Reading WATCH: Classical Singer And Pulitzer Music Winner Caroline Read More
The British conductor, harpsichordist and scholar helped reignite interest in works by composers like Monteverdi — but he also championed new works and wrote notable film scores of his own. Continue Reading Conductor And Read More
The past 10 years in classical music, which this episode of All Songs Considered explores, has been a roller coaster ride of high points and derailments. Hence the dramatic title, "A Decade of Reckoning." Continue Reading The 2010s: Classical Music’s Read More
Ten years ago, Costanzo had surgery that threatened to destroy his singing voice. Now the countertenor is starring as a gender-fluid Egyptian pharaoh in a new production by the Metropolitan Opera. Continue Reading Read More
For more than twenty years, Imani Winds has inspired audiences and young musicians of all backgrounds with their energetic performances, outreach endeavors and adventurous programming. Anjuli Dodhia caught up with horn player/composer Jeff Scott and bassoonist Monica Ellis at an Imani Winds rehearsal. Read More
Norman was one of the leading African American opera figures in a time when there were fewer than now. The soprano won four Grammys and the National Medal of Arts. Continue Reading Grammy-Winning Opera Singer Jessye Norman Dies At 74Read More
Conductor Marin Alsop and composer Nico Muhly recall their friend and colleague who wrote deeply expressive music. Continue Reading Remembering The ‘Fast And Furious’ Music Of Composer Christopher RouseRead More
The creators of a new musical work called “Nuclear Dreams” highlight the dreams and nightmares of people who work and live near Hanford in Washington’s Tri-Cities.
Continue Reading Oratorio Performed Inside Read More
The battle between management and musicians, which reached a low point with a June lockout by management, ended Monday with the ratification of a new one-year contract. Continue Reading Baltimore Symphony Orchestra And Musicians End Read More
Early American composers could have shaken off their European sound and mined the rich trove of African American music. They didn't. And one historian believes we're worse off because of it. Continue Reading Why Is American Classical Music So White?Read More
Watch a young cellist on the rise, offering music of virtuosity, sweet lyricism and a little fire from his Persian roots. Continue Reading Cellist Kian Soltani Plays With Authority And Poetry For NPR’s Tiny Desk Read More
The Black contralto put European art music and African-American spirituals in parity — and in her art, paved the way for generations of singers after her, both inside and outside classical music. Continue Reading Marian Anderson: A Classical Read More
John Williams is an honored film composer, but he began as an arranger. Williams is now arranging again, this time with the acclaimed violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on the album Across the Stars. Continue Read More
A trio of critics discuss the mercurial pianist's personal take on Beethoven and Rachmaninoff and what it means to color outside the lines in classical music. Continue Reading A Confrontation With Music: Classical Pianist 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 Augustin Hadelich’s Read More
Isata Kanneh-Mason, one of seven siblings in a British family bursting with promising music careers, showcases the long-overlooked music of Clara Schumann on her debut. Continue Reading In a Family Filled With Musicians, Read More
The Metropolitan Opera suspended, and then fired, Levine after several men came forward with accusations that the conductor had sexually abused them. Continue Reading Met Opera, James Levine Settle Lawsuits, Avoid Public 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
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
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
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
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
The acclaimed Concertgebouw Orchestra issued a warmly worded statement Tuesday saying its disagreements with the conductor have been resolved by both parties. Continue Reading Top Dutch Orchestra And Ousted Conductor Daniele Read More
The young composer's opera, which debuted at the Los Angeles Opera, was inspired by her own experience as a survivor of sexual assault. Continue Reading Readjusting Your Opera Reality: Ellen Reid Wins Music Pulitzer For ‘P r i Read More
Nézet-Séguin uses every part of his body when he conducts — including his eyes, eyebrows, shoulders and feet. He's the music director at New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Continue Reading Fresh Air: Read More
On his new album titled c.1300-c.2000, the pianist begins with a medieval song by Machaut and ends with an étude by Philip Glass. Continue Reading A Musical Odyssey Through 7 Centuries Of Music With Jeremy DenkRead More
Regretfully, the Brown-Bag Lunch with Suzanne Bona, host of Sunday Baroque, as scheduled for March 21 at the LCSC Center for Arts and History has been cancelled due to a number of logistical factors. If you planned to attend the gathering and can travel up the grade instead, please contact [email protected] for an alternate opportunity… Read More
Composer Austin Schlichting was raised in Bellingham and currently works as a music educator in Lacey. Last year, he partnered with the Olympia Symphony to write and premier a new piece celebrating the Orchestra's 65th Anniversary. His new work for the Olympia Symphony is Nisqually River Run: A Fanfare to the Pacific Northwest. Read More
To mark the sesquicentennial of the composer's death — and a new box set of recordings — Berlioz biographer David Cairns celebrates the one-time musical misfit from France. Continue Reading At 92, The Man Who Wrote The Book Read More
André Previn died Thursday morning in Manhattan. He was a composer of Oscar-winning film music, conductor, pianist and music director of major orchestras. Continue Reading André Previn, Musical Polymath, Conductor And Read More
How did Samuel Barber's stirring, lush work for strings — music that has become America's semi-official music of mourning — morph into a beloved and endlessly remixed dance floor anthem? Continue Reading American Anthem: Read More
The warm-voiced, and much admired, singer eschewed the glitzy life of an opera star to concentrate on the art of vocal communication. Continue Reading Sanford Sylvan, A Baritone On His Own Terms, Dies At 65Read More
