Tom Huizenga

Hear music both bleak and magisterial by an Icelandic composer and engineer who wields darkness into a singularly mesmerizing art.

The opera, by the 39-year-old Shanghai native, is a searing parable of human trafficking set to a score that ranges from Renaissance choral music to punk rock.

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with NPR Music Senior Editor Jacob Ganz and NPR's classical music producer, Tom Huizenga, about the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in music, the newest inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and rapper Kanye West going platinum for his latest album.

The anonymous song from 17th-century Iceland sports a catchy, bittersweet melody that pop outfits like Peter, Bjorn and John might be happy to whistle. Arve Henriksen joins the vocal trio on trumpet.

Despite a misleading article, the beloved soprano makes it clear that she's nowhere near ready to give up the opera stage.

The genre-busting composer, who believes in classical music's "multi-dimensional space," brings a strikingly diverse playlist with him for a relaxed session of spinning tunes and talking music.

After the death of Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko on April 1, we revisit a 2000 feature about his most famous work, 'Babi Yar,' and the collaboration it inspired with composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

The collaborative spirit of Black Mountain College — once home to the likes of John Cage and Willem de Kooning — lives on in a theatrical song cycle performed by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

The pianist creates a singular electronic language rooted in the past but reaching to the future.

One of the finest, most ravishing, cello concertos so far this century, written for and performed by Yo-Yo Ma, finally receives its debut recording.

Piotr Anderszewski is one of the most revered pianists today, and one of the most delightfully unpredictable. His new album links composers with a direct line from brainstorm to masterpiece.

How do you attract a more diverse audience at the opera? One answer is to produce operas with characters that look more like the general citizenry.

Riffing off a Baroque cantata, the Pulitzer-winner creates a beautiful and luminous musical balm.

Sherrill Milnes calls it "an avalanche of sound." Jessye Norman says it's "a cloud filled with silver." Singers and critics talk about the amazing voice of Leontyne Price on her 90th birthday.

Falling fast, jumping high and one stratospheric sky dive, are all themes explored in a new stop-motion animated video from the ensemble, yMusic.

The performance artist reflects on Philip Glass' generous spirit, his perpetually fresh ideas and the grand experiments hatched in the lofts of SoHo in the '70s.

Need to brush up on your Bruckner? Or discover his symphonies for the first time? Let conductor Daniel Barenboim guide you through all nine symphonies in this audio primer.

The veteran musician specialized in French repertoire and collaborated with some of the world's most famous opera singers, including Maria Callas.

Borrowing from Persian music and American jazz, two Iranian women come together to create a singular sound.

Hear a slightly off-kilter collection of beloved carols, Hanukkah favorites and works by Prokofiev, Mahler and Thomas Adès.