GoodSoundClub - Classical Music News

Kris Bowers Reflects On Coming 'Full Circle' In Composing The Score For 'Respect'
Aretha Franklin liked how Kris Bowers played piano at a competition in 2011. It was his big break — a fact that he says was with him while he scored a upcoming biopic about the late Queen of Soul. (26 February)

Metropolitan Opera Backstage Workers: 'Without People, The Opera Is Nothing'
A union representing 800 backstage workers began a publicity campaign today urging donors and government entities to withdraw support for the company because of a labor dispute. (20 February)

On 'Time To Shine,' Black Violin Focuses On The Light
The duo, famed for enmeshing classical and hip-hop, looks back at America's past year and toward its near future on a new song, "Time to Shine." (17 February)

After U.S. Immigration Battle, Musician Kayhan Kalhor Returns To Iran
Grammy-winning Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor called the U.S. home for decades, until chaotic encounters with the immigration system caused him to leave the country permanently. (11 February)

Why A Musician Breathed New Life Into A 17,000-Year-Old Conch Shell Horn
A seashell found in a French cave appears to have been modified by prehistoric people so that it could be used like a trumpet, making it a new addition to the Stone Age orchestra. (11 February)

'Sisters With Transistors': Pioneers Of Electronic Music
The new documentary tells the story of the roles women played — and continue to play — in the creation and development of electronic music, from theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore to today. (10 February)

NPR's Classical Music Editor Previews 2 Albums You'll Want To Hear
NPR's resident classical music specialist Tom Huizenga previews two of the albums he's looking forward to spending time with in 2021. (9 February)

Will Liverman 'Dreams Of A New Day' For Black Composers
As a student, the young baritone was never really introduced to any Black composers. Liverman's latest album, Dreams of a New Day, features an abundance of them. (9 February)

Salisbury Cathedral Organ Plays Majestic Music During Vaccinations
NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Salisbury Cathedral's Director of Music David Halls about playing music for those getting vaccinated in the church. (1 February)

Max Richter: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Watch the composer, in a bucolic southern England setting, play six of his most tranquil, yet probing pieces. (22 January)

What Is The Sound Of Grief? Osvaldo Golijov Puts It To Music
In his newest work, Falling Out of Time, composer Osvaldo Golijov explores a painful subject — the death of a child. He was inspired by a unique literary work by Israeli writer David Grossman. (18 January)

Car Concerts Offer Choirs A Way To Rehearse And Perform
This car choir solution is one that accomplished baritone David Newman came up with so that ensembles could sing "together." The method uses microphones, a mixer, an FM transmitter and car radios. (11 January)

The Thistle & Shamrock: 'These Are The Hands'
Meet internationally-acclaimed author Alexander McCall Smith and award-winning composer James Ross, who collaborated on song cycle These Are The Hands. (7 January)

James Newton Howard, A Composer Who Can Do It All
James Newton Howard has composed the music for more than 100 films: thrillers, Disney animation and big fantasy series. His latest is the Tom Hanks western, News of the World. (4 January)

How To Stay Human: Jon Batiste Talks With Lara Downes
The renowned musician and Late Show bandleader has sage advice on everything from finding your north star and owning your own orbit to honoring lineage. (26 December)

Music And Mayhem: A Diary Of Classical Albums For A Troubled 2020
NPR Music's classical editor traces the high points of a year spent listening to new albums that offered comfort and confrontation in counterpoint with the relentless world outside the headphones. (21 December)

Beethoven's Life, Liberty And Pursuit Of Enlightenment
Growing up in a progressive city, Ludwig van Beethoven embraced the ideals of the Enlightenment, the philosophical movement that shook Europe and helped shape the composer's music. (17 December)

Jan Vogler And Alessio Bax: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Join cellist Jan Vogler and pianist Alessio Bax at the "doctor's office," where they make the case for Beethoven as the liberator of the cello by playing music from his cello sonatas. (16 December)

Borromeo String Quartet: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Members of the celebrated Borromeo String Quartet – playing it safe with masks – unlock the sillier side of Beethoven in music he wrote late in life. (15 December)

Jonathan Biss: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, pianist Jonathan Biss explores the solitary side of the composer in extraordinary music written after Beethoven became deaf. (14 December)

Redemption And Connection: Lara Downes Talks With Davóne Tines
In conversation and in song, the opera singer and the pianist discover healing in a traumatized space. (12 December)

2020 Was The Year Of *Trying* To Chill
The musicians who massaged our temples for us this year took more than one approach — some immersive soundscapes, some acoustic lullabies, at least one wild pop-punk experiment. (11 December)

Composer John Luther Adams On The Arctic Sounds That Shaped His Work
The Pulitzer winner has released his first memoir, Silences So Deep: Music, Solitude, Alaska. It's a personal account of Adams' formative decades making art in the Artic. (10 December)

Harold Budd's Music Was Heaven On Earth
The ambient composer and Brian Eno collaborator died this week at the age of 84 from complications brought on by COVID-19. (10 December)

'Tripping With Nils Frahm': 4 Sweaty Berlin Nights Captured Onscreen
The new concert film, shot in 2018, shows one of the stars of the electronic and indie classical worlds in his element: a homebrewed nest of traditional and modern instruments working together. (5 December)

'Tripping With Nils Frahm:' Four Sweaty Berlin Nights Captured Onscreen
The new concert film, shot in 2018, shows one of the stars of the electronic and indie classical worlds in his element: a homebrewed nest of traditional and modern instruments working together. (5 December)

Julia Bullock: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
From her home in Germany, the provocative American soprano delivers songs of introspection and freedom from Franz Schubert's mountaintop epiphany to Billy Taylor's wish for equality and justice. (1 December)

Provocation and Follow-Through: Julia Bullock Talks With Lara Downes
The thoughtful soprano believes that art is good at questioning, challenging and provoking. But the real question, she says, is: "What happens after the provocation?" (28 November)

A Tense New Classical Work Bottles The Feeling Of A Police Stop
Pulitzer-winning composer Anthony Davis based You Have The Right To Remain Silent, released this week as a virtual performance, on his own experience with police. (25 November)

Time Warps, Dolphins And Baptism: Helga Davis Talks With Lara Downes
The restless creator of music and theatre says the pandemic has opened up new ways to be a storyteller. (14 November)

Copland House: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
A trio of musicians gather at Aaron Copland's longtime home. Watch them play the iconic American composer's music at his own piano and beside his own writing desk. (13 November)

Tigran Hamasyan: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
The award-winning pianist performs three solo songs from his home in Armenia. (11 November)

Struck With Memory Loss, A Dancer Remembers 'Swan Lake.' But Who Is She?
Viewers worldwide are responding to a moving video of Marta C. González, a former dancer afflicted with dementia. But critics are questioning whether González is who the clip makers claim she is. (10 November)

Julian Bream, The Classical Guitar Giant With The Soul Of A Jazz Player
Guitarist Julian Bream, who died Friday at the age of 87, was as important to the history of classical guitar as Andres Segovia. (9 November)

Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer And Chris Thile: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
The quartet, known colloquially as Goat Rodeo, jammed out from four different homes in this Tiny Desk quarantine performance. (9 November)

Burt Bacharach & Daniel Tashian: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Burt Bacharach, one of pop's historic melody makers, is still performing at age 92, as you'll see in this Tiny Desk quarantine concert with lyricist Daniel Tashian. (9 November)

Whistleblowers Allege Culture Of Secrecy, Protection Of Powerful At Singers' Union
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. (9 November)

Top Music School Finds Sexual Abuse Allegations From Violinist 'Credible'
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. (9 November)

Met Opera Says It Won't Return Until Fall 2021
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. (9 November)

Sarah Kirkland Snider's Mass, Rebooted For The 21st Century
When young composers explore old musical formulas, exciting things can happen. Mass for the Endangered is a contemporary twist on an ancient tradition. (9 November)

The Unforgettable Jessye Norman, One Year Later
The celebrated soprano died suddenly a year ago, leaving her fans, including one NPR producer, in grief, but with many fond memories. (9 November)

Women Conductors Are The Rule, Not The Exception, At A New Classical Event
La Maestra, held in Paris this September, is the first fully realized competition solely for women conductors — an effort to help balance a male-dominated field. (9 November)

New York Philharmonic Cancels Its Entire 2020-21 Season, Due To Coronavirus
This is the first time that the New York Philharmonic has been forced to cancel its entire concert season. No previously scheduled concerts will happen before June 2021. (9 November)

Requiem For A Theme: Film Composer Clint Mansell On The Sound Of Sadness
Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film Requiem for a Dream spawned a musical motif that's rippled through media — and jumpstarted a new career for Clint Mansell, the composer of its haunted score. (9 November)

'A Chance Of A Great Spiritual Awakening': Rhiannon Giddens Talks With Lara Downes
Eavesdrop on the forward-thinking pianist as she talks with musical omnivore Rhiannon Giddens, who has just taken over Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road organization. (9 November)

Central Park Is Alive With The Sound Of Music, Thanks To A Site-Specific App
Created by Pulitzer-winning composer Ellen Reid, Soundwalk lets visitors score their socially distanced walks around the park with an ever-changing, GPS-sensitive soundtrack. (9 November)

In Lara Downes' New Series, Black Musicians Rise To A Pivotal Moment
The pianist joins Ari Shapiro to discuss Amplify With Lara Downes, a video series on Black musicians who have experienced renewed creativity regarding racial injustice. (9 November)

'In The Act Of Living, You're A Revolutionary': Anthony McGill Talks With Lara Downes
The New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist blows apart the labels he once applied to himself to discover a stream of activism. (9 November)

The Unforgettable Jessye Norman, One Year Later
The celebrated soprano died suddenly a year ago, leaving her fans, including one NPR producer, in grief, but with many fond memories. (30 September)

Vox Virtual, An International Music Festival, Is About To Launch
Vocal ensembles that normally would be touring the summer festival circuit have organized a virtual concert series. Groups hail from 10 different countries including the U.S., Zimbabwe and France. (20 August)

Ted Hearne On Exploring Gentrification Through The Music Of 'Place'
After hearing a speech by filmmaker Spike Lee, composer Ted Hearne teamed up with the poet Saul Williams to remap the history of his neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., through the language of music. (17 August)

Víkingur Ólafsson: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Watch the rising young pianist, in a final performance from his Berlin home, make the case for two seemingly disparate French composers born nearly 200 years apart. (12 August)

During A Lonely New York Summer, Lincoln Center Brings Music To Essential Workers
America's biggest arts complex hasn't been able to present its regular programming due to the pandemic. Watch one of the private outdoor concerts organized for healthcare professionals and teachers. (12 August)

Opera Theatre St. Louis Administrator Accused Of Child Sex Trafficking
Damon Bristo was arrested on July 22 on the suspicion of the sex trafficking of a child in the second degree. The opera company announced Tuesday that Bristo has resigned. (12 August)

Is Singing Together Safe In The Era Of Coronavirus? Not Really, Experts Say
Schools, faith and community groups as well as professional musicians are all struggling with the risks of singing. Experts present the most recent research and offer strategies to mitigate the risks. (10 August)

Meet The Medical Professionals Playing Classical Music Together Online
The National Virtual Medical Orchestra brings together health care workers and gives them a creative outlet during the pandemic. (10 August)

Meet The Medical Professionals Playing Classical Music Together Online
The National Virtual Medical Orchestra brings together healthcare workers and gives them a creative outlet during the pandemic. (9 August)

The Met Opera's Live Streaming Series Sticks To Old Trappings
While a valiant endeavor, the Metropolitan Opera's new series of steaming concerts can't seem to shake off opera's fusty, aristocratic traditions. (4 August)

Composer Max Richter On 'Voices,' A New Album That Envisions A Better World
Composer Max Richter's new album drew inspiration from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document spearheaded by Eleanor Roosevelt which he calls "a blueprint for a better world." (3 August)

Leon Fleisher, The Pianist Who Reinvented Himself, Dies At 92
The beloved pianist was a young lion of his generation until a hand injury forced him to rethink his relationship to music. (3 August)

Where Are The Thousands Of Nazi-Looted Musical Instruments?
Researchers are still digging into the question and sharing their findings decades after the Nazis sacked the homes of Jews during World War II. (29 July)

Classical Music Tries To Reckon With Racism — On Social Media
Pianist Yuja Wang, violinist Leonidas Kavakos and several prominent academics have been accused this week of making anti-Black comments. Ensuing debates have been playing out on Twitter and Instagram. (29 July)

A New Album Re-Creates The Work Of The 1st Known Female Composers In America
Women rarely received credit for their creative work in Colonial America. But with a new album, one scholar is reviving the works of the women who lived and composed at the Ephrata Cloister. (26 July)

Composer Maria Schneider Returns, With A Reckoning, On 'Data Lords'
After collaborating with David Bowie in 2014, the multiple Grammy-winning composer found her artistic process had been recombobulated a bit — much like our ever-more digital world. (24 July)

Legendary Violinist Isaac Stern's Legacy Lives On After 100 Years
July 21 marks the centennial of the birth of violinist Isaac Stern. He was not only an acclaimed musician and advocate for the arts, but a devoted teacher who was a mentor to generations of musicians. (21 July)

Singing In The Dark Times: Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir Takes On New Meaning
Even before the age of social-distancing, composer and conductor Eric Whitacre had been leading an online chorus for a decade. Choir members say the connection they foster is more important than ever. (19 July)

Ennio Morricone, The Sound Of The American West, Dies At 91
The iconic Italian composer, who scored The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and more than 500 other films, died Monday in Rome. (6 July)

NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums Of 2020 (So Far)
How can it be possible that we're only halfway through the year? Here are 25 albums from 2020's first six months that are worth holding onto for the next six, and beyond. (30 June)

Someone Finally Remembered William Dawson's 'Negro Folk Symphony'
Broadcast nationwide in 1934 and praised by listeners and critics alike, a masterful symphony soon fell silent. A new recording hopes to help revive an American treasure. (26 June)

Carnegie Hall And Lincoln Center Cancel Performances For Rest Of 2020
Two of New York City's biggest cultural institutions said Thursday that they will remain closed through the New Year, due to the pandemic. (19 June)

Yo-Yo Ma: Goats, Rodeos And The Power Of Music
Hear the cellist talk about the purpose of music in the face of racial tension and health crises, plus his new album, Not Our First Goat Rodeo, which reunites him with old bluegrass buddies. (17 June)

A New Library Of Congress Project Commissions Music Of The Coronavirus Pandemic
The Library of Congress is debuting 10 works of new music about the COVID-19 pandemic. The project takes inspiration from Giovanni Boccaccio, a writer who collected stories about the Black Death. (12 June)

Clarinetist Anthony McGill Kneels, Pleads And Plays For Justice
With the help of a few "wrong" notes, the principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic turned "America the Beautiful" into a solemn protest of police violence. (4 June)

Lara Downes: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Watch the pianist reimagine old spirituals and songs of freedom that continue to resonate in new ways. (30 May)

Our Daily Breather: Make The Perfect Cup Of Quarantine Coffee With Davóne Tines
In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Davóne Tines has been reconnecting with family and enjoying the ritual of making coffee. (28 May)

Our Daily Breather: Steve Reich Composes During The Coronavirus Crisis
In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Steve Reich tells NPR Music about his new composition. (26 May)

Rachel Portman Steps Away From The Screen With 'Ask The River'
The first woman composer to win an Oscar for best original score is releasing her first album of music not written for a film or stage production. (22 May)

Our Daily Breather: Jonathan Biss Isn't Taking Music Or Food For Granted
In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Pianist Jonathan Biss is focusing on being grateful. (21 May)

Our Daily Breather: Jennifer Koh On Finding Carefree Joy
In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Violinist Jennifer Koh recommends seeking out a source of carefree joy. (18 May)

Krzysztof Penderecki, Boundary-Breaking Polish Composer, Dies At 86
Known early on for his avant-garde works, the composer's challenging music nevertheless found fans far beyond traditional classical music circles. (17 May)

Famed Opera Singer Plácido Domingo Hospitalized Due To COVID-19 Complications
Domingo's reported hospitalization comes days after he posted a message on Facebook saying it was his "moral obligation" to reveal he tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus. (17 May)

Andrea Bocelli To Perform In An Empty Duomo Cathedral On Easter Sunday
The Italian star will sing songs like "Ave Maria" live from the empty halls of one the world's most famous churches. (17 May)

Richard Teitelbaum, Experimentalist With An Earth-Spanning Ear, Dead At 80
As a young man, Teitelbaum looked to avant-garde artists like John Cage for inspiration. He'd later follow those footsteps towards figuring out how to make music from — what else? — brain waves. (17 May)

Andrea Bocelli Will Offer His Easter Concert For Free On YouTube
On Sunday, renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform a solo concert at the Cathedral of Milan. It will be live streamed on YouTube, but there will be no audience in the church. (17 May)