Deep Cuts

The harp is perhaps an instrument that has one of the strongest stereotypes associated with it. Why do we think of such a narrow image of harp players? Learn how gender roles and stereotypes have changed for the instrument throughout the years.

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.

Why do we call it a 'French horn' when it isn't French at all? Horn player Emily Green dives into why so many U.S. classical fans have been calling the popular brass instrument by the wrong name for so long.

So you're sailing down the Pacific Coast Highway in your 1964 Ford Mustang convertible (with the top down, of course), and "Blue Moon," sung by the Marcels, comes on the radio. What do you do? C'mon — admit it — you sing along with the bass line! You can't help it. Why? Because singing bass, especially in a choir, is awesome!

When life is hectic or you need a break from the news, feel better and live bigger with classical music. This week, Classical MPR host Scott Blankenship shares a playlist full of "Nature and Nostalgia."

Jennifer Higdon didn't start composing until she was 21, but that late start hasn't stopped her from becoming one of the world's most in-demand composers.

When a stunning celestial display makes you want to break out in song, cue up some classical music that features the moon in a starring role. Here’s your must-hear lunar soundtrack.

On the surface, early music and jazz don't appear to have so much in common, but the two share a deep kinship. Consortium Carissimi perform consciously explores this kinship through an alternating series of early Baroque madrigals and settings by jazz composer Jeremy Walker.

Sound engineer Julie Gardeski talks about what it's taken to succeed in a complicated, ever-changing field.

Vocalists and instrumentalists don't tend to hang out together - but if they did, what could the singers teach the players?