Classical Music News

From our friends at NPR, PRX, and PBS Member Stations from around the country

Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer-member of the Soviet delegation to the Cultural and Scientific conference for World Peace, plays the second movement of his Fifth Symphony at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 27, 1949.

'How Shostakovich Changed My Mind' Touches On The Music-Body Connection

Friday, May 17, 2019

BBC music broadcaster Stephen Johnson's remarkably diverse aesthetic and personal sensitivity are on full display in his new book on the Russian composer's music — and his own personal struggles.

From Betty Boop To Popeye, Franz von Suppé Survives In Cartoons

Monday, April 29, 2019

You may not recognize the Austrian composer by name, but if you like cartoons, you've heard the music of Franz von Suppé.

Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick performs onstage during the Lung Transplant Project Gala in Oct. 2017 in New York City.

Opinion: Remembering A Soprano With The 'Warmth And Strength Of The Sun'

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Charity Tillemann-Dick died this week at age 35. She was an opera singer who underwent double lung transplants twice. NPR's Scott Simon got to know her and her family.

Ellen Reid's opera <em>p r i s m</em> has won this year's Pulitzer Prize for music.

Readjusting Your Reality: Ellen Reid Wins Music Pulitzer For 'P r i s m'

Monday, April 15, 2019

The young composer's opera, which debuted at the Los Angeles Opera, was inspired by her own experience as a survivor of sexual assault.

The University of Illinois’ Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana first opened in April 1969, and was designed by architect Max Abramovitz, who's known for his work on the David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, among other famous buildings. (Courtesy of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts)

How A Performing Arts Center In The Middle Of Illinois Became One Of America's Cultural Hubs

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois, is celebrating 50 years of bringing music, theater and dance to a part of the country where many are surprised to find it.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012.

For Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Making Music Is 'Like A Religious Call'

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Nézet-Séguin uses every part of his body when he conducts — including his eyes, eyebrows, shoulders and feet. He's the music director at New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Think Of Your Favorite Song. Got It? Here's Why It's Stuck With You

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Music and the human brain. A neuroscientist and opera singer guides us through the science of how and why music moves us.

Lang Lang's latest solo record <em>Piano Book</em> is out now.

From A Piano Virtuoso, An Album For Beginners

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Steve Inskeep speaks with superstar pianist Lang Lang about his new album, Piano Book, a reexamination of the classical music repertory he learned as child.