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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The incisive conductor and early-music expert died Saturday at age 86. His recordings of such composers as Bach and Mozart made him a legend. -
The Pulitzer Prize-winning American musician, teacher and author was 66 years old. He had been diagnosed with cancer in November. -
The composer and conductor changed the way we hear music, not only through his own compositions but in the concerts he conducted. He died Tuesday at the age of 90. -
When one of America's foremost orchestras needed an overhaul, an unlikely leader emerged from East Germany. -
From Bach and Dvorak to new confident new composers like Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Andrew Norman, our list feels as wide-ranging, and open to possibilities, as classical music itself. -
A misunderstanding morphed into an exciting idea: Take 10 American composers to Cuba. Hear their Havana concert. -
As news has spread of the death of New Orleans pianist, producer and songwriter Allen Toussaint, artists and other luminaries have begun paying tribute to this musical legend on social media.
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Artist biographies on websites, in concert programs and press releases are often deadly dull and irrelevant. Why not use them as vehicles for insight and engagement? -
The world-famous cellist and his longtime pianist colleague attempt to capture the emotional signposts of a lifetime in this collection of intimate music. -
He was with the Boston Symphony for 50 years, and his name was also stamped on the sticks of drummers from Buddy Rich to Charlie Watts to Questlove. Firth died Sunday at age 85.
