Nez Perce tribal member Mary Jane Miles was two when her mother died. That was the start of a series of difficult events in Mary Jane’s life. But she persevered to earn an education and come to terms with alcohol addiction. She spoke with her friend and colleague, Kayeloni Scott, for StoryCorps Northwest.Read More
Music
Created by Pulitzer-winning composer Ellen Reid, Soundwalk lets visitors score their socially distanced walks around the park with an ever-changing, GPS-sensitive soundtrack.Read More
Nathan Chan talks about his pandemic pick-me-ups, Yo-Yo Ma and TikTok. Before he could read, let alone read sheet music, theSeattle Symphony cellist had already conducted an orchestra through Mozart’s Variations. At 3 years old, Chan directed the San Jose Chamber Orchestra — and had to stand on a chair to see over the podium.Read More
On this show, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis invite the Sesame Street gang onstage. Plus, trombonist Joe Fielder's Open Sesame share rare songs from the Sesame songbook.Read More
From the '80s on, Kondo stood with a new generation of free-form players, collaborating with a long list of fellow iconoclasts.Read More
Global superstar Ozuna performs five songs in quarantine for Tiny Desk. For someone whose work often operates at galactic proportions, this performance of five songs makes room for Ozuna's sweet tenor to take center-desk in a love letter to the global communities that supported and streamed him to god tier status.Read More
Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film Requiem for a Dream spawned a musical motif that's rippled through media — and jumpstarted a new career for Clint Mansell, the composer of its haunted score.Read More
The gifted American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has always taken a thoughtful--even bold--approach to her art. Now, Dinnerstein has emerged from a pandemic-induced period of reflection with an impressive new recording, “A Character of Quiet,” which combines etudes by Philip Glass with Franz Schubert’s last sonata. She and her longtime producer laid down the tracks over two Read More
Larry Clott helped to lay the foundation for disabilities rights in the United States. He spoke with his daughter about a car accident that made him a quadriplegic, and how he came to fight for disability rights in this episode of StoryCorps Northwest, recorded virtually.Read More
This is the first time that the New York Philharmonic has been forced to cancel its entire concert season. No previously scheduled concerts will happen before June 2021.Read More
Smith entered the 2020 Tiny Desk Contest with his band Britton & The Sting. He says "Blackstronauts" is about finding joy: "I want us all to put on our freedom suits and fly together," he says.Read More
Americana music's most famous couple perform a Tiny Desk quarantine set in their barn, backed by gorgeous stain-glassed windows.Read More
One of Cuba's best-known singers and songwriters, Rodríguez says this pandemic-era album — whose title translates to "For the Wait" — is all about dealing with uncertainty.Read More
With a voice by turns soaring and haunting, Shajarian was considered one of his nation's treasures — and then ran afoul of the regime. He died Thursday in Tehran at age 80.Read More
Larry Clott discusses his car accident and how he felt about his nurse in this StoryCorps Northwest episode. It originally aired on NWPB’s Morning Edition on Oct. 7, 2020. It was recorded as part of NWPB’s 2020 partnership with StoryCorps.Read More
La Maestra, held in Paris this September, is the first fully realized competition solely for women conductors — an effort to help balance a male-dominated field.Read More
The celebrated soprano died suddenly a year ago, leaving her fans, including one NPR producer, in grief, but with many fond memories. Read More
Nearly 150 years ago, the McGregor family started ranching and farming on the Palouse region of southeastern Washington and north-central Idaho. The family passed down an appreciation for rural life and a love of small towns.Read More
When young composers explore old musical formulas, exciting things can happen. Mass for the Endangered is a contemporary twist on an ancient tradition. Read More
In 1965, two young fans heard the jazz giant John Coltrane play at a San Francisco club and had a religious epiphany. Their church is an idiosyncratic and joyful blend of devotion to the divine — and to jazz.Read More
In his version of “Goldberg Variations,” Gould adapted the sounds of ancient period instruments, harpsichord and organ, to modern piano playing. Lang Lang says this inspired him to learn how to play the harpsichord, studying with Andreas Staier in Cologne, Germany.Read More
As jazz experienced an awakening in the late '60s and early '70s , a record label from Oakland was at the forefront of capturing it. Now, those records are finally returning.Read More
Opera fans will have to wait another whole year for live performances at the famed New York house. In a press release Wednesday, the Metropolitan Opera says it plans to reopen on Sept. 27, 2021.Read More
Jose Riera is a survivor of electric shock therapy. Before coming to Washington State University, he had the corporate office and all of life’s conveniences. But it all unraveled.Read More
One of the British jazz scene's rising stars performs a quarantine concert on the River Thames. Nubya Garcia's (home) concert took place on a boat — a first in Tiny Desk history — because she was in between homes. Read More
They point to a real estate deal that could drain two-thirds of the American Guild of Musical Artists' financial reserves and a secretive, failed deal with disgraced opera star Plácido Domingo.Read More
Every year, the Tiny Desk Contest attracts thousands of unsigned musicians — like powerhouse singer Danielle Ponder. Her entry, "Poor Man's Pain," was inspired by her work as a public defender.Read More
Robert Norwood of Walla Walla went to a one-room school then joined the Navy on a whim. After service he enjoyed a rewarding career as a school counselor. He talked to his son, Mike, about his schooling experience for StoryCorps Northwest, recorded virtually.Read More
Jones is the first African American woman ever nominated for an Emmy for an original television score. She got her start because producer/writer Lena Waithe took a chance on her.Read More
Ronald Bell, along with his brother, Robert "Kool" Bell, brought generations of music fans together on the dancefloor with hits like "Celebration," "Get Down On It" and "Jungle Boogie."Read More
Growing up in Chelan, Susan Little knew early being gay was unacceptable in her small town. In today’s StoryCorps Northwest, Susan and her wife Marianne Patton talk about those early days, and how much has changed for gays and lesbians since they fell in love 35 years ago.Read More
While a valiant endeavor, the Metropolitan Opera's new series of steaming concerts can't seem to shake off opera's fusty, aristocratic traditions. Read More
The quartet, known colloquially as Goat Rodeo, jammed out from four different homes in this Tiny Desk quarantine performance.Read More
On Aug. 26, 1970, Jimi Hendrix opened his legendary studios New York City. He died just three weeks later before he could see its success, decline and rebirth as a palace of hits.Read More
Performances and speeches honor this year's NEA Jazz Masters award recipients, including Dorthaan Kirk, Roscoe Mitchell, Reggie Workman and Bobby McFerrin. Read More
Cuban-American pop star Gloria Estefan may have one of those game changing albums on her hands with the release of Brazil305, a re-examination of some of her most familiar songs through the lens of her life-long love of Brazilian music and rhythms.Read More
Vocal ensembles that normally would be touring the summer festival circuit have organized a virtual concert series. Groups hail from 10 different countries including the U.S., Zimbabwe and France.Read More
The platinum-selling, low-key superstar performs a solo set at her piano for Tiny Desk's quarantine series.Read More
Guitarist Julian Bream, who died Friday at the age of 87, was as important to the history of classical guitar as Andres Segovia.Read More
Watch the rising young pianist, in a final performance from his Berlin home, make the case for two seemingly disparate French composers born nearly 200 years apart.Read More
Twenty-six-year old Grammy-winning multi-instrumental composer and prodigy Jacob Collier talks about his new album, Djesse Vol. 3., which features collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign and T-Pain.Read More
America's biggest arts complex hasn't been able to present its regular programming due to the pandemic. Watch one of the private outdoor concerts organized for healthcare professionals and teachers.Read More
In partnership with The StoryCorps mobile tour was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.Additional support for the Lewiston-Clarkston stop was provided by Innovia Foundation. Marianne Patton and Susan […]Read More
Schools, faith and community groups as well as professional musicians are all struggling with the risks of singing. Experts present the most recent research and offer strategies to mitigate the risks.Read More
The National Virtual Medical Orchestra brings together health care workers and gives them a creative outlet during the pandemic.Read More
Woods played in the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a history-making all-female big band. She was 96.Read More
The Disney+ documentary Howard features the life and work of Howard Ashman, a lyricist known for Little Shop of Horrors and one half of the duo that brought the music for three classic films to life.Read More
Denin Koch's trip to the Hanford B Reactor when he was 19 stirred his musical passion. It eventually inspired a full jazz album exploring the complicated history of Hanford, 75 years after the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan ended WWII.Read More
Host Ari Shapiro talks with Linda Diaz, the winner of this year's NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest. Her entry, "Green Tea Ice Cream" is a dreamy R&B song anchored by her skilled and soulful voice.Read More
After collaborating with David Bowie in 2014, the multiple Grammy-winning composer found her artistic process had been recombobulated a bit — much like our ever-more digital world.Read More