Norwegian opera singer Lise Davidsen is on the verge of superstardom
The big-voiced soprano is in her mid-thirties, and she didn't even hear an opera live until she was in her twenties. Now, she's a sought-after opera singer.
Music Features
On 'Classic Objects,' Jenny Hval interrogates her identity as an artist
The Norwegian songwriter's new album interrogates what it means for her self-image to be centered on her art, while grappling with the way capitalist forces threaten to mute its radical possibilities.
On 'PAINLESS,' Nilüfer Yanya doesn't play nice
The singer-songwriter's second album is sparing and remarkably tough, weighted by an instrumental sound that matches Yanya's darker impulses and solidifies her status as a bona fide rock star.
Half a century ago, Stevie Wonder defined what an 'artist's classic run' could mean
For the occasion of its half-centennial, cultural critic and poet Hanif Abdurraqib takes the measure of Stevie Wonder's unmatchable artistic achivements in the early-to-mid '70s.
The soundtrack to Mardi Gras, from its first wave to its golden age
After Louis Armstrong reigned as King Zulu in 1949, musicians began writing music specifically for and about Mardi Gras. These early songs paved the way for the sounds of Carnival for decades to come.
With the return of Mardi Gras marching bands, New Orleans' streets are full of magic
The bands may be smaller this year, but students say they're prepared to keep the culture alive and entertain hundreds of thousands of revelers.
Virginia rapper McKinley Dixon on the power of community and making music for himself
A self-described "musical time traveler," Dixon uses genres from hip-hop to jazz to analyze the past and enact change in the present.
Erin Rae's songs of empathic, exacting quiet
For a new album, Lighten Up, the singer-songwriter brought her broadly empathetic piece of mind to to Topanga, Calif. to gain a light wash of psychedelia.
At the Rothko Chapel, Tyshawn Sorey explores sound — and silence
Invited to write a new work for Houston's Rothko Chapel, the composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey created a work that is both intimate and vast, like those Mark Rothko paintings.
EARTHGANG's 'Ghetto Gods' looks for divinity in Atlanta's dichotomies
The hip-hop duo made its new record in the shadow of the pandemic and racial justice protests in Atlanta. Yet as ever, its music is focused on the resilience of its home city and its larger community.