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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Hear an excerpt from a new recording of Beethoven's violin sonatas by the violinist and his collaborator, pianist Enrico Pace, that keeps the spotlight on the compositions, not the soloist. -
How the season opener of the worldwide smash television series reminded one viewer of an orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel — 'La Valse' depicts an elegant world gone to pieces in the aftermath of World War I. Ravel's experiences in the war left him as shattered as the show's characters.
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The burning question of the week: Is classical music visible enough to a mainstream audience? And do you have to memorize music to be a great artist? All the classical music world's news, collected for your pleasure. Plus: Portlandia, Second City and music critic/killing machine Stephen Hawking.
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Classical music fans lost far too many musicians in 2012. From towering figures like Elliott Carter and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to artists such as innovative American composer William Duckworth, trumpeter Maurice André and the elegant opera singer Lisa Della Casa.
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Classical fraud on the small screen, maybe the best classical app ever and much more: what you need to read, watch and hear this week. Plus: "obscene" Britten, a scary Nutcracker and operatic takes on both "Gangnam Style" and extreme pizza.
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A pair of revealing interviews, peacocks who talk and support — moral and financial — for orchestras: your guide to what you must know in classical music this week. Plus: the Schumann 'brand' and Dave Brubeck's encounter with Schoenberg, who wouldn't take even two.
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An upcoming documentary highlights an extraordinary orchestra in Paraguay, whose young members play instruments made out of trash in a slum built on top of a landfill. Watch the trailer.
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A string of sorrow this week after four artists' deaths, tempered by one very uplifting orchestra: catch up on all the week's news that you must know. A video game composer is up for a Grammy, Steinway may move out of its longtime home and a critic points out the inherent wackiness of opera.
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Ten albums released this year that you absolutely, positively won't want to miss — from marquee artists like Cecilia Bartoli and Michael Tilson Thomas to fresh discoveries, including American composer Michael Harrison, Denmark's Vagn Holmboe and a forgotten Baroque man of mystery.
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Ravi Shankar was not just an ambassador for Indian culture. He was an intrepid musical explorer who as a teenager heard Cab Calloway and who created collaborations with artists ranging from George Harrison to Yehudi Menuhin to Philip Glass. Hear five Shankar collaborations you must know.
