Anastasia Tsioulcas
Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.
On happier days, Tsioulcas has celebrated the life of the late Aretha Franklin, traveled to Havana to profile musicians and dancers, revealed the hidden artistry of an Indian virtuoso who spent 60 years in her apartment and brought listeners into the creative process of composers Steve Reich and Terry Riley.
Tsioulcas was formerly a reporter and producer for NPR Music, where she covered breaking news in the music industry as well as a wide range of musical genres and artists. She has also produced episodes for NPR Music's much-lauded Tiny Desk concert series, and has hosted live concerts from venues like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge. She also commissioned and produced several world premieres on behalf of NPR Music, including a live event that brought together 350 musicians to debut a new work together. As a video producer, she created high-profile video shorts for NPR Music, including performances by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a Brooklyn theatrical props warehouse and pianist Yuja Wang in an icy-cold Steinway & Sons piano factory.
Tsioulcas has also reported from north and west Africa, south Asia, and across Europe for NPR and other outlets. Prior to joining NPR in 2011, she was widely published as a writer and critic on both classical and world music, and was the North America editor for Gramophone Magazine and the classical music columnist for Billboard.
Born in Boston and based in New York, Tsioulcas is a lapsed classical violinist and violist (shoutout to all the overlooked violists!). She graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a B.A. in comparative religion.
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Pianist and composer Jon Batiste was nominated in 11 categories, including Album of the Year. Read the full list of 2022 nominees.
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The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink had a six-decade career leading major orchestras across Europe, the U.S. and the U.K. He was hailed as a musician's musician, prizing the art well above glamor.
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One-third of the Texas blues-rock mainstay ZZ Top has died. Dusty Hill, the band's bassist and one of its vocalists, was 72 years old, and according to his bandmates died at his home in Houston.
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On social media late Wednesday, the musician wrote: "I wish to say that I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present."
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The duduk player and composer took his music from the mountains of his native Armenia to some of Hollywood's biggest films. Along the way, he played with rock legends like Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno.
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After their performance of "Racist, Sexist Boy" at the Los Angeles Public Library went viral late last week, the band has been signed by the L.A. punk label Epitaph Records.
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The last founding member of The Wailers died Tuesday in Kingston, Jamaica. After leaving the group in 1974, Bunny Wailer cultivated a distinguished solo career.
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The wide-ranging keyboardist, composer and bandleader died Feb. 9 of cancer. He was one of the fathers of jazz fusion, with his work spanning from acoustic jazz to his own interpretations of Mozart.
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The Supremes was Motown's most successful group in the 1960s, reaching 12 No. 1 hits. The cause of her death has not yet been released.
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In a profile of the iconic 94-year-old singer for AARP The Magazine,Bennett's wife says he was diagnosed in 2016. While the disease progressed, he recorded a new album of duets with Lady Gaga.
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Universal Music Publishing Group announced Monday that it had bought the lucrative publishing rights to over 600 Bob Dylan songs. The deal is worth a reported $300 million.
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This is the first time that the New York Philharmonic has been forced to cancel its entire concert season. No previously scheduled concerts will happen before June 2021.