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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The beloved pianist was a young lion of his generation until a hand injury forced him to rethink his relationship to music.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
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
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
