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 most famous classical pianist in the world gives a recital of introspective solo works, live from Carnegie Hall. -
The Met critiques critics, Czechs conquer concerts and Zinman stays up late: all the news that's fit to link.
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Yesterday's online firestorm that raged between the Metropolitan Opera, music critics and fans triggers crucial questions about the place and value of music criticism — and we'd like to hear from you.
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Download the score of a piece commissioned by NPR Music to honor the composer's 75th birthday, learn the music and then come sing the very first performance with us on June 21 in the heart of Manhattan.
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Fischer-Dieskau's passing, a Viennese fraudster and a brawl on a Chinese train: all the news that's fit to link.
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Widely respected by fellow musicians and audiences as one of the greatest classical singers of the 20th century, the baritone has died at age 86.
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Learn along with Londoners in this fun video primer on one of classical music's quirkiest rhythms, courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra.
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Piano legend Leon Fleisher plays for the Supreme Court today, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reveals her list of favorite recordings.
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A classy train ride in Copenhagen, a ruckus in London and a broken Strad in Madrid: all the news that's fit to link.
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Pianist and competition founder Van Cliburn, one of classical music's megastars, has 150 items going to auction at Christie's, from silver owned by the Russian tsars to his mother's Steinway piano. The sale is expected to bring in more than $3 million.
