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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Citing its hate speech policy, Spotify has pulled episodes of the prominent conspiracy theorist's show. But it won't specify which episodes were deleted, or how many. -
The lead singer of the popular Irish band died suddenly Monday in London. The Westminster coroner said on Friday that it is awaiting test results, and has adjourned its hearing until April 3. -
Cassidy's role as an adolescent aspiring musician on the TV show The Partridge Family turned him into a real-life, teen-dream pop idol. -
Malcolm Young, who founded one of the world's most enduringly popular hard-rock bands with his brother Angus, died Saturday. He had left the group in 2010 due to dementia. -
The American rock singer, who fronted The Heartbreakers and was also beloved as a member of The Traveling Wilburys, has died after suffering cardiac arrest. -
The Egyptian-Canadian group Massive Scar Era, as well as London's Yussef Kamaal and United Vibrations, have been denied entry. The artists allege that racism was a factor in the denials. -
The Italian post-punk group, which had tried to enter the U.S. to play at member station KEXP and then at SXSW, says it was sent back to Italy by authorities after spending the night in jail.
