Music & Culture

Music & Culture

The Library of Congress will honor Joni Mitchell with the Gershwin Prize

5:06am March 01, 2023

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell will be presented Wednesday night with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The award is for influence, impact and achievement in popular song.

Amplify host Lara Downes and composer/violinist Jessie Montgomery

Music & Culture

Jessie Montgomery, composing from a place of self-honor

5:01am March 01, 2023

by Lara Downes

Watch Lara Downes' conversation with the composer-in-residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra about balancing her roots, her craft and the shifting field of classical music.

Alisa Amador performs on the Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour

Music & Culture

Join the Tiny Desk Contest community: an invitation from 2022 winner Alisa Amador

1:46pm February 28, 2023

by Alisa Amador

Amador shares how the Contest changed her life and reminded her she wasn't alone as an independent musician.

Music & Culture

Daisies, 'Is It Any Wonder?'

10:13am February 28, 2023

by Lars Gotrich

The band pulls off a pop music magic trick, indulging nostalgia and crafting a vintage '90s patchwork dress in pop song form.

Music & Culture

Eilen Jewell, 'Crooked River'

9:05am February 28, 2023

by Joe Kendrick

With a raw ache lingering in her voice, the songwriter strikes a balance between heartache and triumph in this song about overcoming despair.

Niang encourages young Senegalese to stay in the country.

Senegal's artists are fighting the system with a mic and spray paint

6:38am February 28, 2023

A cultural center in Senegal is creating a safe space where artists can use their platform to speak about climate change while also finding opportunities in the art and music scene.

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Omah Lay performs a Tiny Desk concert Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Music & Culture

Omah Lay: Tiny Desk Concert

5:01am February 28, 2023

The singer and songwriter made a special trip from Nigeria to the Tiny Desk for a performance of his Afro-fusion hits.

"It's not all just about anger and aggression," Zulu's Anaiah Lei (far left) says, "I'm kind of tired of being expected to express that when I want to express love."

Music & Culture

Zulu's soul-sampling powerviolence shifts the pit toward love

10:47am February 27, 2023

by Laina Dawes

Meaty riffs, disembodied screams and... Curtis Mayfield? Anaiah Lei carefully curates samples to acknowledge past freedom fighters and provide windows of hope.

Music & Culture

Why Harry Styles is required to participate in New Zealand's 2023 census

6:11am February 27, 2023

Every five years New Zealand conducts a census. Everyone, including overseas visitors, participate. Styles is on tour in Auckland in early March, so he'll join millions of others filling out the form.

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Music & Culture

Jen Cloher talks new album, 'I Am The River, The River Is Me'

6:04pm February 26, 2023

On her upcoming album, I Am The River, The River Is Me, songwriter Jen Cloher sings about the wildfires that swept through Australia in 2019 and 2020.

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