The beloved pianist was a young lion of his generation until a hand injury forced him to rethink his relationship to music.Read More
Music
Pianist Yuja Wang, violinist Leonidas Kavakos and several prominent academics have been accused this week of making anti-Black comments. Ensuing debates have been playing out on Twitter and Instagram.Read More
Researchers are still digging into the question and sharing their findings decades after the Nazis sacked the homes of Jews during World War II.Read More
The tombstone on Isaac Stern's grave reads simply "Isaac Stern, Fiddler," but the violinist was much more than that: He was an educator who mentored generations of musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, and he was an activist who helped save Carnegie Hall from the wrecker's ball.Read More
The symbols of America's racist past have been under intense scrutiny since the protests against police brutality erupted nationwide. Now, the traditional music community is having its own reckoning.Read More
Women rarely received credit for their creative work in Colonial America. But with a new album, one scholar is reviving the works of the women who lived and composed at the Ephrata Cloister.Read More
Even before the age of social-distancing, composer and conductor Eric Whitacre had been leading an online chorus for a decade. Choir members say the connection they foster is more important than ever.Read More
Ten artists from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean recorded tracks using birdsong from their country, with all profits of the vinyl and digital release going to bird conservation projects.Read More
The trumpeter, who died last week at the age of 78, was at the vanguard of jazz's midcentury development and is regarded as a legend by his peers.Read More
The country artist talks to NPR's Ailsa Chang about how following her muse to make the hard-rocking That's How Rumors Get Started is a lesson to herself and her kids on following their dreams.Read More
Smithsonian Folkways is beloved for its historic collection of recordings and ephemera from folk and roots traditions — but the label's archive of electronic music is just as formidable.Read More
Sudan Archives draws inspiration from Irish and African traditional music. Watch her channel both in this Tiny Desk concert.Read More
The iconic Italian composer, who scored The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and more than 500 other films, died Monday in Rome.Read More
Veteran songwriters prove that it's possible to release poignant and powerful work late in an artist's career.Read More
In 1968, a teenager convinced Thelonious Monk to play a concert at his high school to ease racial tensions in his community. More than 50 years later, it's been rediscovered and remastered.Read More
As Spain lifts its national state of emergency, the Liceu opera house in Barcelona finds alternative living things to fill nearly 2,300 seats.Read More
Broadcast nationwide in 1934 and praised by listeners and critics alike, a masterful symphony soon fell silent. A new recording hopes to help revive an American treasure. Read More
The cast and musicians of the hit Broadway musical Hadestown pack into the Tiny Desk for a truly glorious performance of its greatest songs.Read More
Ari Shapiro talks to jazz saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin about her new album Pursuance: The Coltranes and an artist she is grateful for: James Blake.Read More
Hear the cellist talk about the purpose of music in the face of racial tension and health crises, plus his new album, Not Our First Goat Rodeo, which reunites him with old bluegrass buddies. Read More
The Library of Congress is debuting 10 works of new music about the COVID-19 pandemic. The project takes inspiration from Giovanni Boccaccio, a writer who collected stories about the Black Death.Read More
With the help of a few "wrong" notes, the principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic turned "America the Beautiful" into a solemn protest of police violence.Read More
"I did Nashville the Nashville way for so long ... with very little results," Guyton tells NPR. "So why am I holding out just in case?"Read More
Watch the pianist reimagine old spirituals and songs of freedom that continue to resonate in new ways.Read More
NPR Music correspondents Ann Powers and Sidney Madden recommend a few favorite livestreaming performance series to check out while in-person concerts are on hold.Read More
Two of the biggest pop stars in the world performed some beloved children's songs in the inaugural episode of the Sesame Street character's new HBO Max talk show.Read More
Throughout history, people have turned to music during disease outbreaks as a way to seek spiritual guidance, express pain or even educate others about hygiene. The current moment is no exception.Read More
The drummer's subtle and steady hand guided some of jazz's most beloved recordings, including Miles Davis's iconic Kind Of Blue. Read More
The first woman composer to win an Oscar for best original score is releasing her first album of music not written for a film or stage production. Read More
In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Violinist Jennifer Koh recommends seeking out a source of carefree joy. Read More
Santana had a brush with major success as a member of the band Malo, and made significant contributions to the breadth of Latin popular music.Read More
Drummer Alvester Garnett joined MacArthur "genius" violinist Regina Carter's band in 1998. It was purely professional at first, but it soon grew into a romantic relationship; the couple married in 2004. "She's the boss two-times over," Garnett says half-jokingly.Read More
Grammy-winning fiddler Augustin Hadelich brings one of the finest violins in the world to the Tiny Desk.Read More
In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Pianist Jonathan Biss is focusing on being grateful.Read More
Little Richard was an explosive performer who inspired generations of musicians from Otis Redding to The Beatles to David Bowie. He died Saturday morning.Read More
The lauded trumpeter was attending eighth grade in Oakland when he saw a certain pillar of the avant-garde play live. Some 25 years later, the connection between then and now is stronger than ever.Read More
Once part of Digable Planets, Butler continues to be a hip-hop innovator. He stays connected to new music through his son Jazz, who records as Lil Tracy.Read More
The Central Park Five is an operatic narrative retelling the true story about the five African-American and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted of raping and assaulting a white woman in 1989.Read More
The harpsichord is alive and well. Watch Mahan Esfahani give the first solo harpsichord recital at the Tiny Desk, playing music that spans over 250 years.Read More
The Grammy-winning American cellist had a wide-ranging career that spanned Bach to new music written by Augusta Read Thomas. His colleagues also treasured him as a generous musical collaborator.Read More
On April 30, the global jazz community will celebrate International Jazz Day with an expert panel and a global concert featuring pianist Lang Lang, bassist Marcus Miller and more.Read More
John Fogerty plays three Creedence Clearwater Revival classics with some help from his family for his Tiny Desk home concert.Read More
On this episode of Alt.Latino, we pull an interview from the archives with the great Cuban percussionist. From Havana nightlife in the 1940s to the pulsing streets of New York just after World War II, he reminisces about the seminal recordings and jam sessions that took place. Read More
"It's sort of eerie when suddenly it's coming to life," Keith Richards said of "Living In a Ghost Town," which they wrote in one world and completed in another.Read More
Entertainment companies Live Nation and AEG have modified their refund policies for postponed events. Getting money back would depend on whether a concert or a game has a firm rescheduled date.Read More
We learn all kinds of interesting things when we're at loose ends during a pandemic lockdown. Did you know that Baltimore Symphony Orchetsra Music Director Marin Alsop co-founded a swing band?Read More
Watch the superstar pianist at home in Shanghai, China, play a soothing Chopin Nocturne and Bach you can dance to.Read More
Ravi Shankar took Indian classical music to world stages and introduced the sitar to Western audiences. His influence can still be felt today, 100 years after his birth.Read More
Alt.Latino host Felix Contreras offers a playlist of music that's comforting him and his listeners amid the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Nicholas Cords is finding solace in a thankful musical sentiment from Beethoven.Read More
