Conductor Marin Alsop muses on the power of ballet and her memories of watching choreographer George Balanchine bring the music of Tchaikovsky to life with the New York City Ballet.
This week's batch of essential new songs includes a curiously gorgeous piano piece from Iceland's Ólafur Arnalds, the punk band Abuse Of Power, summery psych-pop from Whyte Horses and more.
Hear a quick run thru some of the best full-albums out today, including the scorching punk of Dark Times, rap phenom Cardi B, pop singer Kylie Minogue's country turn, Hop Along, Wye Oak and more.
This week's new mix features a profound Tiny Desk Contest entry, "dorky" electropop from Australian group Confidence Man, an intimate paean to different loves from Forth Wanderers and more.
A video premiere from violinist Olivia De Prato offers ecstatic music by Missy Mazzoli with an enigmatic take, by director James Darrah, on the evening prayer service.
A collaboration between three prominent artistic voices — singer Lawrence Brownlee, composer Tyshawn Sorey and poet Terrance Hayes — examines what it means to be a black man in America today.
Abreu began El Sistema in Venezuela in 1975 with fewer than a dozen students — 40 years later, his system has been used throughout the world to unite children through musical education.
Artur Schnabel was the first pianist to record all 32 of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas. The cycle, made in the 1930s, has just been entered into the Library of Congress.
The My Lai Massacre occurred 50 years ago this week in Vietnam. An opera featuring the Kronos Quartet and Van-Anh Vanessa Vo tells the story of an American soldier who tried to stop his own troops.