The best music release in July includes albums by (from top left, clockwise) Maggie Rogers, Caterina Barbieri, Beyoncé, Bear1Boss and Johnny Gandelsman. Courtesy of the artists hide caption
Classical Classical music performances and features from NPR news, NPR cultural programs, and NPR Music stations.
Classical
At the beginning of her career, Kaija Saariaho had plenty of doubts. She ended up becoming one of the most revered composers of her generation. Maarit Kytöharju/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Mivos Quartet performs a Tiny Desk concert. Bob Boilen/NPR hide caption
Johnny Gandelsman. Marco Giannavola/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
UC Berkeley Professor Richard Taruskin, whose 4000-page book The Oxford History of Western Music set a benchmark for writing about the history of classical music. San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty hide caption
The physicality of music — how it impacts the body and the way space can alter its effect — has been central to Caterina Barbieri's work. Furmaan Ahmed hide caption
Essential Voices USA performs a Tiny Desk concert. Bob Boilen/NPR hide caption
Hatis Noit Ozge Can Cone/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Vijay Gupta performing with some of the professional musicians in Street Symphony at the Midnight Mission on LA's Skid Row. David Zimmerman hide caption
J'Nai Bridges performs a Tiny Desk (home) concert. J'Nai Bridges hide caption
Saba (left), Lizzo (center) and Rosalía have released some of our favorite songs of the year so far. Collage by Estefanía Mitre / NPR/Photos courtesy of the artists hide caption
Composer Carlos Simon's Requiem for the Enslaved, commissioned by Georgetown University, is a reckoning with the school's troubled history. Toko Shiik/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Review
Deceptive Cadence
'Requiem for the Enslaved' holds a major university's truths up to the light
'Requiem for the Enslaved' holds a major university's truths up to the light
Karim Sulayman, Raha Mirzadegan, Coral Dolphin and John Taylor Ward perform in Unholy Wars in Charleston, S.C., in May. William Struhs/Spoleto Festival USA hide caption
USA. Mississippi. Tunica. 1985. © Eli Reed/Magnum Photos hide caption
David Lang Suxiao Yang/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Tenor Jamez McCorkle, who debuted the title role in the opera Omar, by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, which received its world premiere on May 27 in Charleston, S.C., at Spoleto Festival USA. Leigh Webber/Courtesy of Spoleto Festival USA hide caption
Herman Makarenko, lead conductor for the National Opera of Ukraine. Julian Hayda/NPR hide caption
Musician Ingram Marshall in an undated publicity photo. Nonesuch Records / Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, left, with composer John Williams, right. The pair recently released a collaborative recording, A Gathering of Friends, with the New York Philharmonic. Lawrence Sumulong/Courtesy of Sony Music hide caption
Composer John Williams and cellist Yo-Yo Ma bring together 'A Gathering of Friends'
Third Coast Percussion's new album, Perspectives, is the group's most accessible. Saverio Truglia/Courtesy of the artists hide caption