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 simultaneous crises of the pandemic and racism against Black Americans led to the creation of an unusual movie theater located in New Jersey's biggest city: the Newark Moonlight Cinema. -
With a voice by turns soaring and haunting, Shajarian was considered one of his nation's treasures — and then ran afoul of the regime. He died Thursday in Tehran at age 80. -
The Houston-born singer had his biggest American hit in 1972 — but as a fan of Jamaican music, he signed Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh and produced some of their early recordings. -
The Australian-born singer whose feminist anthem "I Am Woman" became a hit at the height of the women's liberation movement died Tuesday in Los Angeles. She had dementia. -
Opera fans will have to wait another whole year for live performances at the famed New York house. In a press release Wednesday, the Metropolitan Opera says it plans to reopen on Sept. 27, 2021. -
In a report released Tuesday evening, Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music said that violinist Lara St. John's account of being raped and sexually abused by her teacher is credible. -
In 1965, two young fans heard the jazz giant play at a San Francisco club and had a religious epiphany. Their church is an idiosyncratic and joyful blend of devotion to the divine — and to jazz. -
They point to a real estate deal that could drain two-thirds of the American Guild of Musical Artists' financial reserves and a secretive, failed deal with disgraced opera star Plácido Domingo. -
In his book Disloyal: A Memoir, President Trump's former personal attorney catalogs a laundry list of accusations, ranging from racism and sexual misconduct to financial misdeeds. -
Three of the daytime talk show's top producers have "parted ways" with The Ellen DeGeneres Showafter they were accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by dozens of former staffers.
