NPR Classical

Composer Laura Kaminsky's intimate new opera, Lucidity, centers on an aging opera singer, portrayed by the 80-year-old soprano Lucy Shelton, dealing with the effects of memory loss.

The youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition makes our trusty upright piano sound like a 9-foot grand in music by Liszt and Tchaikovsky.

NPR's A Martínez speaks with Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen about their new EP, Rêve, featuring piano duets by lesser-known composers influenced by — or rejecting — French Impressionism.

Riley’s pioneering piece, which premiered 60 years ago, leaves many decisions up to the performers. It helped launch the movement known as minimalism, but In C itself has also survived and changed.

Whether she’s singing in the world’s great opera houses, the White House or in prisons, the celebrated mezzo-soprano and U.S. Global Music Ambassador understands how music can move people.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the maverick American composer’s birth, pianist Jeremy Denk releases an Ives tribute album that educates, delights and confounds.

The countertenor’s sparkling personality shines brightly in a wide ranging set that includes jazz, classical and spirituals.

Jennifer Koh is shaking up the long-established chamber music series at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. An example of that is her collaboration with pianist-composer Missy Mazzoli.

A box set featuring previously unreleased recordings sheds new light on the life and legacy of Paul Robeson, a bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional football player and activist.

Rapper RZA, who helped launch the Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop group in the 1990s, tries his hand in classical music by composing for a ballet inspired by Greek musical scales during the pandemic.