Music & Culture

Holy Trinity Music School's youth choir and chamber orchestra perform in the Smithsonian's Enid A. Haupt garden in Washington, D.C.

Music & Culture

10 Years After Haiti's Earthquake, 'This Music School Will Never Stop'

8:31am September 22, 2019

by Melissa Block

Nearly 10 years ago, an earthquake devasted Haiti, destroying a legendary music school. A youth choir and orchestra have been touring the US and hope to rebuild their school in Port-au-Prince.

'Cine Mexico Now' Brings Mexican Films To Winston-Salem

10:55am September 21, 2019

by Eddie Garcia

Cine Mexico Now is a six-part film series celebrating Spanish-language

Aymée Nuviola portrayed Celia Cruz in the Cuban telenovela Celia.

Music & Culture

Portraying Celia: The Role Of A Lifetime (Or Two)

10:41am September 21, 2019

by Marisa Arbona-Ruiz

How do you inhabit the world's most well-known Latin singer? For singers and actresses Aymée Nuviola and Jeimy Osorio, playing Celia Cruz meant staying in touch with pain, joy and destiny.

Music & Culture

My Signature Song: 'Defying Gravity'

7:46am September 21, 2019

Kaley Johnson of Fort Worth, Texas, shares her "signature song." It's "Defying Gravity" from the musical "Wicked" written by Stephen Schwartz.

Kemba's latest album, Gilda, is out now.

Music & Culture

Through Grief and Growing Pains, Kemba Creates 'Gilda'

7:10pm September 20, 2019

New York rapper Kemba speaks with NPR's Audie Cornish about the themes of his debut album, Gilda, and the emotional labor that went into making it.

Queue Listen Now

The Archies is not only the first fictitious band to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., but is also the only group to reach such heights without ever performing the song live onstage.

Music & Culture

50 Years Later, The Archies' 'Sugar, Sugar' Is Still 'Really Sweet'

6:25pm September 20, 2019

by Ashley Westerman

Fifty years ago, the song "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single by the cartoon band would go on to be named 1969's song of the year.

Queue Listen Now

Leonard Cohen's posthumous new album, Thanks for the Dance, comes out Nov. 22.

Music & Culture

Leonard Cohen Gives 'Thanks For The Dance' From Beyond The Grave

2:07pm September 20, 2019

by Stephen Thompson

With an assist from past collaborators, including his singer-songwriter son Adam, Cohen's new posthumous album will drop Nov. 22. Hear "The Goal" now.

Antonin Dvorak predicted that American classical music would draw from African American traditions. A new article wonders why American classical music has remained so white.

Music & Culture

Why Is American Classical Music So White?

2:01pm September 20, 2019

by Tom Huizenga

Early American composers could have shaken off their European sound and mined the rich trove of African American music. They didn't. And one historian believes we're worse off because of it.

Steve Earle & The Dukes perform on Mountain Stage.

Music & Culture

Steve Earle & The Dukes On Mountain Stage

1:53pm September 20, 2019

by Dave Lavender

Listen to the master storyteller pay tribute to Guy Clark and perform an unreleased song that he wrote for the upcoming play, Coal Country.

Gang Starr — left, Guru, with DJ Premier — photographed in July 1998.

Music & Culture

Gang Starr, Hip-Hop's Chilliest Pair Of Heads, Returns

12:08pm September 20, 2019

by Mano Sundaresan

The East Coast kings of understated confidence and louche jazz interpolation drop a surprise on their fans, with an assist from J. Cole.