Elim Chan conducts the San Francisco Symphony in June. She officially takes over the orchestra as music director in September, 2027. Stefan Cohen hide caption
Classical Classical music performances and features from NPR news, NPR cultural programs, and NPR Music stations.
Classical
Julian Wachner conducting the Choir of Trinity Wall Street with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra in 2013. Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images/Hulton Archive hide caption
Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins, left, calls music his "first love," and has now released his debut album of orchestral works he's composed over the course of six decades. Gustavo Dudamel, right, conducts London's Philharmonia Orchestra for the recording. Decca Classics hide caption
Sir Anthony Hopkins on his new album of orchestral works and his first love -- music
Jon Batiste is a musical multihyphenate. The Emmy- and Oscar-winning bandleader, songwriter and TV personality began as a classical piano student in Louisiana. He went on to get jazz degrees at The Juilliard School. Jen Rosenstein hide caption
Jon Batiste pays tribute to 2 pianists who defined their genres -- Mozart and Monk
The PUBLIQuartet's new album explores the many facets of rhythm in American music. Titilayo Ayangade hide caption
The voracious, and thoughtful, musical appetite of the PUBLIQuartet
On her new album, conductor Dalia Stasevska makes a case for Ukrainian orchestral music. Lindsey Childs hide caption
Dalia Stasevska shines a light on Ukraine's neglected composers on new album
Baritone Zachary James and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Karen Kamensek, perform Philip Glass' Symphony No. 15 'Lincoln' at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. on July 5, 2026. Hilary Scott/Courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra hide caption
Philip Glass' Lincoln symphony premiers after Kennedy Center pullout
Lara Downes (left) and Salamishah Tillet met at the childhood home of Nina Simone, in Tryon, N.C. Morgan Forde hide caption
A new triple album from sisters Katia (left) and Marielle Labèque celebrates more than five decades of recording together. Umberto Nicoletti hide caption
In the recovered audio, taped just months before his death in 1964, Arthur "Harpo" Marx plays the harp and narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, with a nod to the politics of the time. Robert Bader/Marxbrothers.net hide caption
Recently recovered recording features voice of Harpo Marx, the 'silent' Marx brother
Soprano Renée Fleming and banjo player Béla Fleck have recorded an album together that celebrates Appalachian folk music, The Fiddle and the Drum. Madison Thorn hide caption
Béla Fleck and Renée Fleming join forces to celebrate Appalachian music on new album
Aretha Franklin named her live gospel album, recorded in 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, after "Amazing Grace." Eric Piper/Mirrorpix/Getty Images hide caption
Isabel Leonard as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and Carlos Álvarez as her husband and fellow artist Diego Rivera perform in a scene from Gabriela Lena Frank's El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Marty Sohl/Met Opera hide caption
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera dream together again at Met Opera
Will Sharpe plays Mozart in the Starz series Amadeus. Adrienn Szabo/Starz hide caption
Composer Gabriela Lena Frank's Pulitzer-winning piece is inspired by the ancient cosmologies of her Peruvian heritage. Mariah Tauger hide caption
Michael Tilson Thomas conducts a performance of Copland's Appalachian Spring by The Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox, Mass. in 2018. Thomas, who led the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2021. Paul Marotta/Getty Images hide caption
Composer John Luther Adams, photographed in his outdoor studio in Baja California Sur, Mexico, in 2017. Cynthia Adams hide caption
Linguist and New York Times columnist John McWhorter joins Lara Downes to explore how American songs pursue happiness while masking pain. Lydia Daniller hide caption
‘Get Happy!’: Why smiling through the pain is the DNA of American songs
The adventurous, Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth collaborate with songwriter Gabriel Kahane on the new album, Elevator Songs. Anja Schutz hide caption
Going up! ‘Elevator Songs’ is a high-concept, emotionally turbulent ride
Adam Gopnik, author and staff writer for The New Yorker, joins pianist Lara Downes to explore the story of American music and its immigrant roots. Lara Downes hide caption