NPR Classical

Laurie Anderson: Tiny Desk Concert

Tom Huizenga

The mischievous visionary offers a career-spanning set with nods to dogs, the stars and her late husband, Lou Reed.

Aretha Franklin named her live gospel album, recorded in 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, after "Amazing Grace."

NPR Classical

Through the American centuries, 'Amazing Grace' endures

Lara Downes

The song, penned before American Independence by a slave trader turned abolitionist, has remained a source of comfort, inspiration and redemption.

Isabel Leonard as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and Carlos Álvarez as her husband and fellow artist Diego Rivera perform in a scene from Gabriela Lena Frank's El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

NPR Classical

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera dream together again at Met Opera

Jeff Lunden

Gabriela Lena Frank's first opera, in its Met debut, sees late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead to be reunited with her husband and fellow artist Diego Rivera.

Will Sharpe plays Mozart in the Starz series Amadeus.

NPR Classical

Will Sharpe imagines Mozart's day-to-day in 'Amadeus'

Ann Marie Baldonado

Sharpe played a newly rich tech bro on vacation in The White Lotus. Now he's starring as Mozart, a musical genius who struggles to "read the room" in a new limited TV series.

Composer Gabriela Lena Frank's Pulitzer-winning piece is inspired by the ancient cosmologies of her Peruvian heritage.

NPR Classical

Gabriela Lena Frank wins music Pulitzer for 'Picaflor: A future myth'

Tom Huizenga

The composer created her own symphonic fable that weaves Andean cosmology with the natural world.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts a performance of Copland's Appalachian Spring by The Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox, Mass. in 2018. Thomas, who led the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2021.

NPR Classical

Michael Tilson Thomas, renowned conductor and composer, dies at 81

Lisa Hirsch

Thomas led the San Francisco Symphony from 1995 to 2020, helping to establish its reputation as a world-class orchestra. In 2021, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain cancer.

Composer John Luther Adams, photographed in his outdoor studio in Baja California Sur, Mexico, in 2017.

NPR Classical

The dissenting musical life of John Luther Adams

Tom Huizenga

The Pulitzer-winning composer, whose unconventional music reflects the rugged landscapes he lives in, talks about his relationship to nature and his new piece Horizon.

Linguist and New York Times columnist John McWhorter joins Lara Downes to explore how American songs pursue happiness while masking pain.

NPR Classical

'Get Happy!': Why smiling through the pain is the DNA of American songs

Lara Downes

Linguist and New York Times columnist John McWhorter joins pianist Lara Downs to explore the history of American music as a joyful noise, even in the toughest times.

The adventurous, Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth collaborate with songwriter Gabriel Kahane on the new album, Elevator Songs.

NPR Classical

Going up! 'Elevator Songs' is a high-concept, emotionally turbulent ride

Tom Huizenga

On a new album, the experimental vocal group Roomful of Teeth and songwriter Gabriel Kahane take up residence in a multidimensional hotel with a time-traveling elevator and a quirky clientele.

NPR Classical

Kronos Quartet: Tiny Desk Concert

Tom Huizenga

The rejuvenated band, sporting three new members, is having more fun than ever. And it shows in these vigorous performances of pieces that are whimsical and socially conscious.