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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Adnan Syed served 22 years in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. His conviction was overturned last month. Prosecutors have decided not to retry Syed. -
The longtime drummer for the megaplatinum band has died. On Saturday, Colombian officials released a statement, saying they found evidence of 10 types of substances in Hawkins' body. -
Live Nation is the biggest live-events company in the world. Court records and federal citations show that the company was already linked to 200 other deaths and 750 injuries before Friday's tragedy. -
In over 30 novels and across dozens of screenplays, nonfiction works and memoirs, McMurtry became a beloved yet unsentimental chronicler of the American West. -
A newly released survey of nearly 2,000 music venue owners and promoters say that they anticipate closing within the next few months unless they can secure some governmental assistance. -
Organizers, public officials, musicians and other performers are very publicly grappling with competing priorities — and are trying to find innovative ways to deal with canceled events worldwide. -
Peart, who joined the iconic prog rock band Rush in 1974, was 67 years old. He was diagnosed with brain cancer more than three years ago. -
The lead singer of The Cars — the offbeat Boston rock band that became a mainstay of radio in the 1980s — died Sunday afternoon in Manhattan. -
Dick Dale, the surf rock pioneer who took guitar distortion to new levels and whose version of "Misirlou" became pop-culture shorthand, died on Saturday night. -
Alex Jones' Infowars site accused the companies of censorship. Apple said, "We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions."
