classical music

Pianist David Kadouch probes gay composers' hidden loves, through music

6:00am January 24, 2025

by Michel Martin

In his album Amours Interdites (Forbidden Love) French pianist David Kadouch explores music by gay composers who concealed their sexuality in societies that wouldn't otherwise accept them.

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Jennifer Koh seeks innovation and 'artistic risk' in revamping chamber music series

4:41am October 15, 2024

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.

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Powerhouse classical music producer Adam Abeshouse dies at 63

10:00am October 10, 2024

Over a career that lasted more than 30 years, Grammy-winner Adam Abeshouse made hundreds of records with some of classical music’s biggest stars.

Wu-Tang Clan's RZA goes classical with ballet score

4:33am August 30, 2024

by Steve Inskeep

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.

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Can't stop the (classical) music

6:45pm June 25, 2024

It's Black Music month! This week, Host Brittany Luse invites Howard University professor and trombonist Myles Blakemore to talk about how classical music influenced some of our favorite musicians. They look at how the counterpoint technique of Johann Sebastian Bach may have inspired Nina Simone, and how a love of Genuine can turn into a career in classical music.

Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.

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The Apollo Chamber Players create concerts in response to book banning, the refugee crisis, the war in Gaza and other world events. The members of the Houston based ensemble are Matthew Dudzik, left, Aria Cheregosha, Matthew J. Detrick and Anabel Ramírez.

This classical ensemble is tuned in to today's headlines

10:41am March 03, 2024

by Neda Ulaby

The Apollo Chamber Players in Houston, Texas, create concerts in response to book banning, the refugee crisis, the war in Gaza and other world events. Thousands of people attend their performances.

Arts & Music

Eastern Music Festival set to begin its 62nd season

5:21pm May 25, 2023

by David Ford

Next month the nationally recognized Eastern Music Festival and summer e

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Gianandrea Noseda talks with Marissa Regni about the loaned instruments.

Music & Culture

A music director goes public with a secret stash of private instruments

11:19am April 14, 2023

by Olivia Hampton

National Symphony Orchestra Music Director Gianandrea Noseda is reshaping the ensemble's sound with the help of 17th and 18th century instruments he purchased secretly.

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Beethoven is considered to be one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition.

Scientists sequence Beethoven's genome for clues into his painful past

6:03pm March 22, 2023

by Ari Daniel

Scientists have sequenced the genome of Ludwig van Beethoven from two-century-old locks of hair, and found clues about the ailments that plagued him in life.

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Colombian pianist Teresita Gómez is a legendary figure in that country's classical music scene.

At 3 she snuck in to play piano, at nearly 80, she's a Colombian classical legend

4:43pm February 18, 2023

by Betto Arcos

Teresita Gómez learned piano in secret at the exclusive fine arts school where her parents worked. She's now a celebrated classical pianist and a longtime promoter of music by Colombian composers.