WRTI Picks from NPR Music

Patrick Jarenwattananon, former writer for NPR Music's A Blog Supreme, joins us to talk about the most memorable jazz artists to appear at the Tiny Desk.

The jazz trumpeter wrote his Concerto in D for, and with, the Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti. The two say the process was "fascinating" — but painstakingly slow.

Do you believe in ghosts? Composers from Mozart to John Corigliano have written them into their operas. Take a tour of some famous operatic phantoms.

The latest album from the Brooklyn-based Balkan party band is a rearrangement of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's Far East Suite.

Jones' new album, Day Breaks, includes a song inspired by "Compared to What," a jazz protest song from the late '60s, the lyrics of which she says are "still relevant so many years later."

The prolific musician is the first American to win the prize for lifetime literary achievement in 23 years. While Dylan long enjoyed favor as an outside shot for the award, few expected him to win.

The conductor and violinist who became something of entrepreneurial emperor — making hundreds of recordings with his orchestra, including the soundtrack to the film Amadeus — died Sunday at age 92.

The violist wants more people to know and love contemporary classical music. She speaks with Rachel Martin about her Peabody Award-winning podcast and latest collaboration with composer Nico Muhly.

In a piece on his latest album, the Pulitzer-winning composer uses a code of musical notes to spell out the name of his wife, Natasha. Another composition is inspired by her remarkable resilience.

Composer Missy Mazzoli wouldn't call Lars von Trier's film Breaking the Waves, a feminist project. But its portrayal of a woman's experience was part of what drew her to help reimagine it onstage.