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Anastasia Tsioulcas

A new project conceived by Lebanese American tenor Karim Sulayman recasts baroque music that by turns demonizes and exoticizes Arabs and Muslims.


William Struhs/Spoleto Festival USA

Arab American singer reframes music about the Crusades

Bill Zeeble

Six finalists competed in the competition in Fort Worth, Texas, including two from Russia and one from Ukraine. An 18-year-old South Korean was the youngest to win in the contest's 60-year history.


Courtesy of the artist

South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim wins the prestigious Van Cliburn piano competition

Terry Gross

Giddens' Freedom Highway is an exploration of African American experiences, accompanied by an instrument with its own uniquely African American story: the banjo. Originally broadcast May 11, 2017. 


Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Americana Music Association

Composer Rhiannon Giddens sings about slave narratives

Tom Huizenga

Georgetown University owes its survival to slavery. A new album by Carlos Simon, an assistant professor at the school, unflinchingly confronts that legacy.


Toko Shiik/Courtesy of the artist

'Requiem for the Enslaved' holds a major university's truths up to the light

It's a Bird!  It's a Plane!

Lynne has been at this radio thing since 1984 when she fell into an historic job at KFAC AM and FM, the commercial classical station in Los Angeles.  She was the first woman staff announcer in the station's history, and it was such big news back then, it made the LA newspapers and national radio publications.  She is thrilled women in radio is no longer newsworthy.


Lynne Warfel

Superheroes and their flicks.  Super, Bat and Spider Men.  Women of Wonder, and more!


Jack Taylor/Getty Images

VocalEssence and the Aeolians - Witness 2022

“Witness” is the annual VocalEssence concert celebrating the Black experience in classical music. This year’s program was especially joyful with the addition of special guests The Aeolians, a student choir from Oakwood University. These two ensembles will inspire you to stand up and cheer, whether they’re singing Bach, spirituals or modern masterpieces. Listen to the concert now.


VocalEssence

Listen: VocalEssence and the Aeolians present 'Witness'

Sphinx Virtuosi and Border CrosSing perform 'Tracing Visions'

The Sphinx Virtuosi are joined by Border CrosSing in a program that sets out to challenge the classical canon by illuminating a new pathway for listening, sharing and fostering artistic expression with works by Alberto Ginastera, Jessie Montgomery and more. Listen to the concert now.


Scott Jackson

Listen: Sphinx Virtuosi and Border CrosSing perform 'Tracing Visions'

Honoring Ingram Marshall

Steve Seel is the host of YourClassical’s weekly SymphonyCast and the trailblazing music show Extra Eclectic. He possesses a broad knowledge of many musical genres, having hosted radio programs ranging from classical to jazz and even avant-garde music at radio stations around the country. Steve began his love affair with public radio at 24 working whatever shifts he could at his hometown station of WUSF-FM in Tampa, Florida, and from there worked his way to snowy Buffalo, New York, and its renowned classical station WNED-FM, where he hosted middays and the weekly experimental-music show Present Tense.  In 2005, Steve became one of the founding voices on Minnesota Public Radio's eclectic station, the Current. While there, he hosted afternoons and mornings, and conducted in-depth interviews with pop music luminaries ranging from Brian Eno to David Byrne to Tori Amos. Steve is a basement composer obsessed with all things both minimalist and slow, and might actually be incapable of writing anything that exceeds 75 beats-per-minute.


Steve Seel

A tribute to the composer, who died last month at 80.


Courtesy of the composer

Jeffrey Yelverton is a digital producer of classical music for Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media. He supports the digital portfolio of MPR/APM by creating original content and providing production support for YourClassical Storytime, New Classical Tracks and various seasonal events.


Digital Producer, Classical

Jeffrey Yelverton

What if some of our modern popular songs were written during the time of Charlemagne or Frederick Barbarossa? Fear not, you can now enjoy nine medieval covers of some of today’s greatest hits. 


Hulton Archive/Getty

Behold! Here are 9 medieval covers of popular music to enjoy

Nate Chinen

On a new album, Odesa, written in tribute to his father, the pianist, former child prodigy and composer also paints a portrait of the album's namesake, currently in the midst of a Russian invasion.


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