It's been worth the long, long wait: Amazing Grace, made in January 1972, is an extraordinary document that depicts an artist at her technical, creative and spiritual heights.Read More
Music
The singer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his fleet guitar work and big smile, began his career as a teenage prodigy and rose to become a regular presence in the living rooms of America.Read More
Producer Giles Martin shares the remarkable stories, early demos, outtakes and stunning new mixes from the just-released deluxe version of the album.Read More
Armistice Day: Music from the Trenches This program commemorates the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, the end of World War I. You’ll hear music from both sides of the […]Read More
November 11 marks the centennial of the end of World War I, otherwise known as the “Great War” and the “War to End All Wars.” Simply put, it was a cataclysm, a conflict that marked a threshold in modern history. In the world of classical music, composers responded in many different ways.Read More
For the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, writing rhyming poems called calaveras literarias — mocking epitaphs for the dead or satire targeting the living — has become a proud tradition.Read More
From family memorials to jam sessions to every show at the Grand Ole Opry, the familiar singalong helps people feel connected to those who have died — whether legendary musicians or loved ones.Read More
One of the best-known anthems of second-wave American feminism might not have become a No. 1 hit without an obnoxious display of macho behavior.Read More
Need a good scare or just something to do with the family this fall? Check out this list of Halloween activities happening around the Northwest. Read More
When the FBI recovered virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg's stolen Stradivarius after his death, his daughters wanted the instrument to be played everywhere. Ensuring that was not so simple.Read More
Sixty years ago, a Mexican folk tune sung entirely in Spanish became a rock and roll phenomenon. Generations after Ritchie Valens, young Latinos are still harnessing its power.Read More
In many ways, Lafourcade has left her mark on the 21st century by looking back. Her work has freed music that for many younger listeners had been trapped in amber, and imbued it with new life.Read More
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, which begins to mark its centennial this fall, is credited with helping to bring high culture and great composers to L.A. Read More
The revered Spanish soprano, who died Saturday, spins out silvery threads of tone in her recordings, the likes of which no one has ever matched.Read More
The list of 2019 nominees also includes Janet Jackson, Radiohead, Def Leppard and John Prine.Read More
The resourceful singer is unafraid to bring opera — and his high-flying top notes — to unlikely places, from sixth-grade classrooms to the offices of NPR.Read More
Although Johann Sebastian Bach was probably no tap-dancer, he did know something about dancing. The gigues, menuets and courantes that populate his various suites are, essentially, stylized dance movements that can leap off the page in a good performance.Read More
The resourceful Mexican jazz singer Magos Herrera partners with the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, creating an album that's steeped in Latin American culture.Read More
Dutcher spent five years researching, writing and recording his brilliant and ambitious debut album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa -- now, it has earned one of Canada's most prestigious prizes.Read More
The Bob Dylan classic came out in 1963 and was embraced by the civil rights and anti-war movements. Decades later, young people are finding it vibrates with new meaning.Read More
The never-before-seen clip, of the two former Beatles recording Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?" in 1971, comes ahead of the Oct. 5 release of a 6-CD box set, Imagine - The Ultimate Collection.Read More
Despite its origins in the popular music of the North, the song became the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy during the Civil War and still endures as a divisive symbol in modern America.Read More
Consider this year’s apples: Born from the seeds of an earlier generation’s trees, the fruit you hold in your hand this fall will allow you “to shake hands with a […]Read More
The country singer-songwriter's voice changed in her 50s and, for a time, she thought her career in music was over. With advice from Tony Bennett and a voice coach, Mattea has returned.Read More
The second annual Adam West Day in Walla Walla is September 19th. This year's event features more activities including a showing of the Bat-mobile, an actor portraying Batman and a gathering at Adam West's childhood home. Read More
Don Gonyea visits musician Lee Greenwood to talk about the song that, after three decades in political campaigns, might be more popular than "Hail to the Chief."Read More
Now that "Kamikaze's" suicide mission is complete, how will Eminem resurrect his love for hip-hop?Read More
Even from its beginnings in late-'60s Oakland, Tower of Power has always stood out. Fifty years later, its devotion to classic horn-driven soul remains unmatched, its passion and precision unchanged.Read More
"The Star Spangled Banner" has been played at major sporting events as far back as the Civil War, even before it was officially named the national anthem. How and why did the tradition stick?Read More
In this candid conversation, the singer reveals he hasn't felt compelled to write a new song in years, talks about the desire to better know himself and reflects on the very meaning of life itself.Read More
The ways in which Spalding's music is the most radical are perhaps the most easily overlooked: how, through her singing and playing, she challenges gender norms across styles. Read More
Born 100 years ago on Aug. 25, 1918, Bernstein was a larger-than-life character — on stage as a conductor, at the piano as a composer, on TV as an educator and in a sometimes tangled personal life.Read More
Mmhmm is a small word that's often used unconsciously. But it can actually tell us a lot about language, bias and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.Read More
If the celebrated cellist could soundtrack his life, the music would be J.S. Bach's six Cello Suites. Yo-Yo Ma explains why they mean the world to him while he played the music at the NPR offices.Read More
Warm nights and clear skies are a perfect combination to see some of the night sky’s wonders, even if you don’t have a telescope. And what could be better than stargazing with a themed classical music soundtrack?Read More
The first known photograph of Leonard Bernstein (left) as a conductor, taken at a summer camp on 1937. CREDIT: Library of Congress, Music Division “Moynik!” (“Music!”), the young Leonard Bernstein […]Read More
The 85-year-old legend canceled a string of shows earlier this year after suffering from the flu. But with his wife and sons in tow, he's come back fiercer than ever.Read More
A long, relaxed summer evening in the company of live classical music and fine food. That’s a favorite Northwest pleasure offered around the region: Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (Concert on the Village Green), Bellingham Festival of Music (Chamber by the Bay), and Seattle Chamber Music Society Summer Festival (Music Under the Stars), to name a few. It’s the kind of Read More
Join Gillian Coldsnow and Anjuli Dodhia as they host concerts at Lake Chelan Bach Fest and Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival. NWPB will be out and about this summer and […]Read More
The Bellingham Festival of Music is celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary season. It’s also Artistic Director Michael Palmer’s 50th year as a conductor. Anjuli Dodhia sat down for a conversation with the Maestro about his career, the Bellingham Festival of Music, and what concert-goers can look forward to this season.Read More
Did you know that the director of the new documentary film about Mr. Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Morgan Neville – also directed The Music of Strangers, the 2016 documentary about Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project? And that Yo-Yo Ma’s son Nicholas is one of the producers of Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
In a clip of his appearance on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Nicholas Ma is Read More
There's an episode of The Johnny Cash Show from 1969 where the man himself makes a little speech with a pretty big error. "Here's a song that was reportedly sung by both sides in the Civil War," Cash says, guitar in hand, to kick off a performance of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." The real history is clear: Julia Ward Howe wrote the song as a pro-Union, anti-slavery Read More
The owner of the revered Village Vanguard in New York City — and a champion of generations of jazz musicians, including Thelonious Monk — died Saturday at age 95.Read More
Dolly Parton, one of Renea's favorite singers, says you have to stay quiet to make it in show business. But Renea refuses to downplay her experiences as a black woman in country music.Read More
Britain’s prestigious Gramophone Classical Music Awards have created a new award for 2018, called Orchestra of the Year. The shortlist includes a familiar name to Northwest listeners: the Seattle Symphony. For the first time in the history of these awards, public voting will decide an outcome. The 2018 Orchestra of the Year Award will go to the nominee receiving the most Read More
You usually go to the library to check out a book, read a magazine or rent a movie. Now you can check out a ... ukulele?Read More
Many composers were inspired to write music after their travels, leaving us a taste of the sights and sounds of their adventures. But many of the far off lands they visited have similar counterparts right here in the Northwest.Read More
The warm, late-spring weather of recent weeks is a reminder that summer is just around the corner. One of the highlights of the season is the abundance of classical music festivals throughout the Northwest. Take a look at what’s in store this summer.Read More
Ah, June. Wedding season for so many, when even musical instruments can declare their loving intentions. 'D’amore': Italian, meaning 'of love.' And what does 'love' mean? Sympathetic vibrations, a soft, comforting voice, a whisper into the mysterious dark of the ancient, natural world. Welcome to the instruments d’amore: viola, oboe, and…yerbomatófono?Read More
Can you guess which of these are Composers and which are English politicians featured in 'Victoria'? Good Luck!Read More
