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 university announced Wednesday that it is naming its newly reestablished college for performing and visual arts after the late, beloved actor and Howard alumnus. -
It's the second-largest acquisition for Amazon after purchasing Whole Foods — and its biggest move into entertainment. -
Actor Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua, who are producing the Civil War-era film Emancipation, announced Monday that they are pulling the movie's production from Georgia. -
In over 30 novels and across dozens of screenplays, nonfiction works and memoirs, McMurtry became a beloved yet unsentimental chronicler of the American West. -
At a Thursday press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a series of public health measures aimed at re-starting New York City's cultural life and theatrical industry. -
The gifted conductor who had wielded immense influence in the classical music world, was publicly accused by nine men of sexual abuse. He died March 9 at age 77 of natural causes. -
The last founding member of The Wailers died Tuesday in Kingston, Jamaica. After leaving the group in 1974, Bunny Wailer cultivated a distinguished solo career. -
Born in Sarajevo, Flory Jagoda celebrated the music and language of her ancestors who had been expelled from Spain in 1492. She died Jan. 29 at age 97. -
In a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing Thursday, the judge ruled that conservatorship of the singer's estate will continue to be co-controlled by an outside firm, Bessemer Trust. -
Grammy-winning Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor called the U.S. home for decades, until chaotic encounters with the immigration system caused him to leave the country permanently.
