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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The annual Met Gala fundraiser pays tribute to designer Karl Lagerfeld, who has a controversial legacy in the fashion industry. -
Apple recently launched a standalone streaming service for classical music exploration, including guided playlists, exclusive content and detailed metadata. Does Apple Music Classical deliver? -
The influential Japanese composer died March 28 from cancer. A wide-ranging musician, the Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder was a synth-pop idol and the writer of sweeping movie scores. -
An attorney representing the actor says that he is "completely innocent" of charges that he assaulted and strangled a woman in New York City and that the woman has already recanted her allegations. -
Hip-hop musician Pras Michel of Fugees faces criminal trial in Washington, D.C., for allegedly conspiring to violate election law and influence American policymakers on behalf of China. -
Once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, the 70-year-old former film producer will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison. He is already serving a 23-year sentence in New York. -
The disgraced former R&B star is already serving 30 years for sex trafficking and racketeering. On Thursday, he was given one more year in prison for having made pornography with three children. -
Since 2020, the Mellon Foundation has given over $40 million to arts and humanities projects addressing mass incarceration. In all, it says, it will donate $125 million to such efforts. -
Multidisciplinary artist Samora Pinderhughes has explored mass incarceration for the last eight years. With this sizeable grant, he hopes to sustain "The Healing Project" for decades to come. -
The New York Philharmonic announced Tuesday afternoon that the charismatic 42-year-old conductor will be taking on the music director designate post at the start of the 2025-26 concert season.
