Music News

Olga Neuwirth's bold gender-bending opera has won the Grawemeyer Award

10:20am December 06, 2021

by Steve Smith

Neuwirth, an Austrian composer and multimedia artist known for works of elemental power, was honored for her opera 'Orlando,' produced by the Vienna State Opera in 2019.

Julieta Salvo (left) and Claudia Cornejo only knew each other online before meeting for the first time at the concert. Salvo, originally from Argentina, currently lives in South Korea while Cornejo, originally from Mexico, lives in Michigan.

BTS returns to the stage reuniting their ARMY of fans after a 2-year hiatus

11:18am December 04, 2021

by Hannah Yoon

Fans from across the country and the world came to see the Korean boy band perform in Los Angeles for their first live concert in two years. Photographer Hannah Yoon documented fans before the show.

Music & Culture

Greg Kurstin and Dave Grohl release another series in 'The Hanukkah Sessions'

7:04am December 03, 2021

NPR'S A Martinez talks to musician Greg Kurstin about The Hanukkah Sessions he does with Dave Grohl. They record eight cover songs, by Jewish artists, and release one for each day of Hanukkah.

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Inflation means recreating 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' for 2021 will cost more

6:24am December 02, 2021

by Scott Horsley

Partridge prices are flat this year, but a pear tree will cost you more. Compared to overall inflation, though, the gifts in the song could be a relative bargain.

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From music made from brain waves to gamelan instruments reworked for amplifiers and loudspeakers, Alvin Lucier rewired how we heard sound.

Music & Culture

Alvin Lucier, inquisitive and innovative composer, has died at 90

4:28pm December 01, 2021

by Lars Gotrich

Lucier changed the way we think about sound through monumental works like I Am Sitting in a Room and Music on a Long Thin Wire.

Music & Culture

Barbados is the world's newest republic. Honors 'National Hero' Rihanna

5:05am December 01, 2021

During a ceremony for the newly forged republic, Barbados designated singer Rihanna a "National Hero."

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Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan fame tells his story in 'From Staircase to Stage'

6:34am November 30, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Cory Woods, Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, about his book: From Staircase to Stage: The Story of Raekwon and the Wu-Tang Clan.

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Joanne Shenandoah in 2020 at Hart's Falls Preserve, near the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Studies, an organization run by Shenandoah and her husband, Doug George-Kanentiio, in Hermon, N.Y.

Music & Culture

Musician Joanne Shenandoah, a powerful voice for Native culture, dies at 64

5:25pm November 27, 2021

by Marisa Arbona-Ruiz

A singer and composer whose songs bridged Native and numerous mainstream styles, Shenandoah was driven to create, and to share her history, with audiences around the world.

Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim in New York in 1976. Sondheim died on Friday at age 91.

Music & Culture

Stephen Sondheim, the Broadway legend, has died at 91

11:37pm November 26, 2021

by Jeff Lunden

The celebrated composer-songwriter died on Friday. He had won several Tonys and Grammys, as well as an Oscar and Pulitzer, for musicals including West Side Story and Company.

Jon Batiste, shown performing at Global Citizen Live: New York earlier this year, was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards.

Jon Batiste, Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish headline 2022 Grammy nominations

6:29pm November 23, 2021

Pianist and composer Jon Batiste was nominated in 11 categories, including Album of the Year. Read the full list of 2022 nominees.