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 extraordinarily wide-ranging pianist, scholar and essayist died at age 85 Sunday after a multifaceted life in the arts and academia. His broad repertoire and keen insight as a writer helped shape decades of thought on classical and contemporary music. Hear him play and discuss the piano. -
What you want to know about classical music this week, from our ten must-hear albums to the Grammy nominations to Dave Brubeck's classical music and composer Jonathan Harvey's passing. Plus: New York City Opera selling most of its sets and the jailhouse orchestra that players don't want to leave.
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Check out a duo riffing on the Goldberg Variations in a very cool way: beatboxing and piano.
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A major move for the NY Phil, back-and-forthing in Minnesota and the ROI on Dudamel: our weekly guide to what you absolutely need to know. There's also been something of crime wave, with embezzlement in Atlanta, suspected collusion in Switzerland and students in Ohio trying to crack the drug biz.
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Ray Chen might be the finest current violinist you don't yet know — but you soon will. See this stellar artist perform works by Sarasate and Saint-Saëns in a performance recorded live in New York.
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Hear a celebrated mezzo-soprano sing an aria from her exceptional new recording of Baroque opera selections, ranging from Handel and Haydn to nearly forgotten — but fiery and fabulous — arias by composers including Orlandini and Giacomelli.
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It's only Wednesday, but we have your link to all the conversations and ideas you need for your holiday: from a joyous sharing of astonishing musical moments to what it's like for a classical newcomer to tweet from a symphony hall.
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Our suggestions for a playlist to accompany your Turkey Day, from cooking to dining to cleaning up, brimming with American sounds from all over the musical map.
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The celebrated English conductor leads his Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir in a performance of one of Beethoven's most expansive and searching works: the Missa Solemnis.
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Vänskä pleads for both sides to work together in Minnesota, Muti declines to make a statement and a monocled (!) tenor signs to DG: the stories you must know and a guide to all the news that's fit to link. And a composer exols the durability of the orchestra and the versatility of scissors.
