Anastasia Tsioulcas
Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.
On happier days, Tsioulcas has celebrated the life of the late Aretha Franklin, traveled to Havana to profile musicians and dancers, revealed the hidden artistry of an Indian virtuoso who spent 60 years in her apartment and brought listeners into the creative process of composers Steve Reich and Terry Riley.
Tsioulcas was formerly a reporter and producer for NPR Music, where she covered breaking news in the music industry as well as a wide range of musical genres and artists. She has also produced episodes for NPR Music's much-lauded Tiny Desk concert series, and has hosted live concerts from venues like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge. She also commissioned and produced several world premieres on behalf of NPR Music, including a live event that brought together 350 musicians to debut a new work together. As a video producer, she created high-profile video shorts for NPR Music, including performances by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a Brooklyn theatrical props warehouse and pianist Yuja Wang in an icy-cold Steinway & Sons piano factory.
Tsioulcas has also reported from north and west Africa, south Asia, and across Europe for NPR and other outlets. Prior to joining NPR in 2011, she was widely published as a writer and critic on both classical and world music, and was the North America editor for Gramophone Magazine and the classical music columnist for Billboard.
Born in Boston and based in New York, Tsioulcas is a lapsed classical violinist and violist (shoutout to all the overlooked violists!). She graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a B.A. in comparative religion.
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WCPE says that six contemporary operas being presented this season by the Metropolitan Opera — including ones dealing with violence, race and LGBTQ issues — are "unsuitable" for broadcast. -
The opera star who once sang on stages around the world suddenly pleaded guilty to sexual assault on Friday. The assaulted man, singer Samuel Schultz, reflects on the experiences he has endured.
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Octavia Butler's novel Parable of the Sower — depicting a dystopian U.S. in 2024 — was published 30 years ago. Toshi Reagon's new musical retelling explores the web of past, present and future.
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Composer Robert Beaser has been fired from the renowned performing arts conservatory after an independent investigation found that he had broken Juilliard policies and "misrepresented facts."
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Apple recently launched a standalone streaming service for classical music exploration, including guided playlists, exclusive content and detailed metadata. Does Apple Music Classical deliver?
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The influential Japanese composer died March 28 from cancer. A wide-ranging musician, the Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder was a synth-pop idol and the writer of sweeping movie scores.
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Multidisciplinary artist Samora Pinderhughes has explored mass incarceration for the last eight years. With this sizeable grant, he hopes to sustain "The Healing Project" for decades to come.
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The New York Philharmonic announced Tuesday afternoon that the charismatic 42-year-old conductor will be taking on the music director designate post at the start of the 2025-26 concert season.
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After VAN magazine published accusations against Robert Beaser, a former head of The Juilliard School's composition department, hundreds of composers, educators and presenters are demanding change.
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Three people have accused two teachers at the world-renowned music school — composers Robert Beaser and the late Christopher Rouse — of sexual misconduct dating back to the 1990s and 2000s.
