Poems by the Russian writer Anna Akhmatova form the basis of singer Iris DeMent's new album. Critic Ken Tucker says Akhmatova and DeMent share an urge to articulate "sorrow, sacrifice and gratitude."
Joanna Newsom's new album, Divers, is novelistic, with recurring musical themes, memorable characters and a preoccupation with the change brought on by passing time.
Can a computer program craft passable prose — something readers can't distinguish from human-authored stuff? How about poetry, or dance mixes? New contests pose those challenges.
U.S. economist Michael Pettis, an expert on China's economy and professor at Beijing University, is also a key figure nurturing a distinct American sound in Beijing's avant-garde music scene.
At 28, Teddy Abrams is the youngest-ever music director of the Louisville Orchestra. He speaks with Rachel Martin about the task of making classical music at once accessible and provocative.