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American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and activist Nina Simone found her calling in jazz after a career as a classical pianist was halted before her eyes. Find out more in the latest episode of the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

Classical music truly has become a global village in the 20th and 21st centuries. This week on Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel transports us to Asia in the first hour of the program. In the second hour, it's a tapestry of musical dreams, from John Cage, Ellen Reid, "Blue" Gene Tyranny and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.  

In this week’s New Classical Tracks, composer Christopher Tin and vocal ensemble Voces8 team up on his latest album, ‘The Lost Birds,’ a musical memorial to bird species driven to extinction by humankind.

Founded by refugee musicians, a music institute in southern Turkey tries to revive forgotten Syrian classics and integrate Turkish and Syrian cultures with traditional music that the two countries have shared for centuries.

The new children's book 'The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music' recounts the story of singer Roberta Flack's father finding her a beat-up, old, upright in a junkyard — a treasure that led to a life in music.

Ahoy Mateys! This week’s episode of Saturday Cinema, with host Lynne Warfel, features movies about pirates including ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘Captain from Castile’ and ‘Hook.’ Listen now!

Jeff Beck, who died Jan. 10 at 78, was known as one of rock music's greatest guitarists. But he also had an interesting connection to classical music — "Beck's Bolero," a 1966 tune hailed as one of his genre's best instrumentals and based on Maurice Ravel's famous “Bolero.”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s life often focuses on his pivotal moments such as his "I Have a Dream" speech. But music filled and inspired his most intimate moments that made him the leader he is remembered as today. Find out more in the latest episode of the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

Watch pianist Marc-André Hamelin, who's been called 'a performer of near-superhuman prowess,' play a smart set that spans six centuries as part of NPR's Tiny Desk concert series.

In this week’s New Classical Tracks, Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes shares his love for an underappreciated piano cycle in his latest recording, ‘Dvořák: Poetic Tone Pictures.’