A Flurry Of Premieres For American Orchestras
How about some good — even great — news from American orchestras? Today and tomorrow, four of the country's biggest ensembles are playing world premieres by prominent composers.
Music
Joyful Opera Performed In Nazi Concentration Camp Revived In Chicago
While the Nazis may have used the children's opera Brundibár as a propaganda tool, it also was a symbol of hope for the children who performed it. It is now a way to remember profound loss.
A Jazz Institution Moves Back Home To Los Angeles
Jazz's highest-profile competition recently crowned a new victor in a star-studded gala. But for the Thelonious Monk Institute, competition is only a small part of its desire to be back out West.
Bob Dylan's Atmosphere Captured In New Basement Tapes
A batch of lyrics that Bob Dylan wrote in the late 1960s were given by Dylan to producer T-Bone Burnett, who came up with the idea to have some contemporary musicians set the words to music.
A Rational Conversation: Can The Delayed Album Curse Be Lifted?
If we now know about albums languishing in the clutches of major labels, are they more likely to see the light of day? Will they be any good when they get here?
Messing With Perfection: Why The Flaming Lips Took On 'Sgt. Pepper'
Wayne Coyne says his band was dying to take The Beatles' masterpiece apart and see how it works.
What Is It About Kendrick Lamar?
In two years since releasing his major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Lamar has moved into hip-hop's spotlight full time. Microphone Check's Frannie Kelley and Ali Shaheed Muhammad explain why.
A Musician Writes A Soundtrack For His Grandparents' Love Story
"I wanted a chance to have other conversations with him," Peter Miller says of his late grandfather, whose letters to his wife inspired Miller's new album with We Are the Willows.
'Twinkle' Sparks Fireworks As Fiddler Guts Violin Method
Fiddler Mark O'Connor claims Shinichi Suzuki, creator of the popular Suzuki Method of violin instruction, was a fraud. O'Connor has created his own teaching system.
Uncovering The Heart Of Chopin — Literally
It sounds like something out of a Dan Brown novel. But a secret group of 13 gathered earlier this year to exhume the preserved heart of one of the world's most beloved composers, Frederic Chopin.