In ‘The Listeners,’ a seductive cult leader and an unexplainable noise divides an innocent community and warps reality. Missy Mazzoli's opera receives its U.S. premiere in Philadelphia.


A mysterious hum and a charismatic leader stoke chaos in Missy Mazzoli's opera

Composer Ted Hearne, in a new collaboration with the Grammy-winning choir the Crossing, uses the words of Jeff Bezos and William Penn to explore connections among farming, colonialism and capitalism.


Ted Hearne's choral work 'FARMING' raises food for thought 

Rooted in the lineage of Black music, harpist Brandee Younger interprets a tune by Dorothy Ashby, a pioneer of genre-bending harp, in her upcoming album, “Brand New Life.”


Harpist Brandee Younger unfolds tracks from her upcoming album

Seven months after it debuted at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Tyshawn Sorey relaunches his work Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) on a monumental new scale in New York's Park Avenue Armory.


A composer's meditation on the moment, blown up to immersive proportions

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.


For pianist Vadim Neselovskyi, Ukraine war adds urgency to his most personal work

The jazz icon's 100th birthday is a chance to appreciate an enduring throughline of his career, which often teetered between exquisite composure and raging chaos.


Charles Mingus contained multitudes, but his native language was protest

Saxophonist Tony Malaby, unlucky at the beginning of the pandemic after catching a very early case of the virus — the subsequent isolation imposed on his playing led him to a unique solution.


Saxophonist Tony Malaby's unlikely pandemic practice space: the New Jersey Turnpike

The pair took a close look at the subtexts of Euripides' sad, epic tale of Iphigenia — agency, testosterone, violence, faith — and, through a suite of new music, hold them up to the light.


Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding crack open the old world in new opera

We're celebrating the legacy of Dr. Billy Taylor — with a look at his multifaceted career, his musical philosophy, and the impact he left.


The Urban Griot, Dr. Billy Taylor: A Centennial Celebration

The NEA is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Jazz Masters Fellowship by inducting its Class of 2022, including four jazz icons: Billy Hart, Stanley Clarke, Cassandra Wilson and Donald Harrison, Jr. 


Nate Chinen

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