
Current Playlist
Deceptive Cadence

Deceptive Cadence un-stuffs the world of classical music, which is both fusty and ferociously alive.
- What did the beginning of time sound like? A new string quartet offers an impressionby Olivia Hampton on January 17, 2024 at 10:11 am
Nokuthula Ngwenyama's Flow is on a 13-city tour of performances by the celebrated Takács Quartet.
- Napoleon's piano lends authenticity to Ridley Scott's biopicby Olivia Hampton on December 4, 2023 at 10:04 am
British composer Martin Phipps discusses how he used an 1808 French piano that once belonged to Napoleon in the score for Ridley Scott's biopic of the one-time emperor.
- Finding a place at the Met, this opera sings in a language of its ownby Luis Trelles on November 27, 2023 at 5:15 pm
Florencia gives star Ailyn Pérez a rare chance to sing in Spanish. As the bilingual daughter of Mexican immigrants, she learned early on that language had the power to shape her experience and voice.
- A disciplined plea for peace – and quiet – from composer Arvo Pärtby Tom Huizenga on November 10, 2023 at 5:28 pm
A new album of music by the 88-year-old Estonian mystic seems to put an arm around you and whisper, "In troubled times, music can help."
NPR Music

In-depth stories from NPR Music staff and radio programs.
- Songs that make the movies and vice versaby Scott Detrow on March 9, 2025 at 9:44 pm
There are some songs that are synonymous with - or are perhaps more famous than - the movies they accompany.
- Olly Alexander deciphers queer identity on 'Polari'by Ryan Benk on March 9, 2025 at 12:00 pm
The album's namesake, Polari, is a set of a few hundred words and phrases that was adopted by gay men as a way of speaking in secret during periods of criminalization.
- D'Wayne Wiggins, founding member of the R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone!, has died at 64by The Associated Press on March 8, 2025 at 5:34 am
Wiggins died Friday morning after battling bladder cancer for over the past year, according to a statement released by his family on social media.
- Dolly Parton honors late husband with new song, 'If You Hadn't Been There'by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento on March 7, 2025 at 11:14 pm
Dolly Parton's late husband, Carl Dean, died this week. He inspired some of her biggest songs, including a new one. "If You Hadn't Been There" is Parton's ode to Dean and their six decades together.