This week, we’re analyzing the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on musicians and cultural organizations — plus, a discussion of Stevie Wonder’s "classic period.”
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This week’s news has been dominated by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The roots of Russia's invasion of Ukraine go back decades, and the current conflict is more than one country attempting to take over another. Our colleagues across the newsroom have been following the situation closely and reporting on it on the radio, online and through a new podcast called State of Ukraine updated multiple times a day.
Musicians and music communities across the world have been impacted by the crisis, too — and while Russian artists and institutions grapple with how they are viewed internationally, American cultural organizations find themselves in a position that requires them to make what amount to foreign policy decisions as the situation develops.
A number of Russian artists have spoken out against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s actions, including the Russian-born conductors Semyon Bychkov and Kirill Petrenko, both of whom now live and work in Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Opera announced that it will suspend its ties to Russian artists and institutions who are allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin — including dropping star soprano Anna Netrebko — and before a performance this week, the Met's orchestra and chorus played and sang the Ukrainian national anthem. Also, the concert industry powerhouse Live Nation Entertainment announced this week that it would cease all business activity with Russia.
This week, our team has also been sharing the work of Ukrainian musicians. The NPR Classical playlist features music by Valentin Silvestrov and Dmitry Bortniansky with performances by the Kyiv Chamber Choir and violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv. For #NowPlaying, resident Viking Lars Gotrich highlighted a song by the Lviv-based black-metal band Pušča. And our friends at WBGO spoke with Ukrainian harpist and composer Alina Bzhezhinska, who has organized a Concert for Ukraine at The Cockpit Theatre in London, to take place on March 13.
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New Music
This week on New Music Friday from All Songs Considered: a cinematic, sometimes heartbreaking return from the Belgian singer and rapper Stromae, winding melodies and diaristic reflections from The Weather Station, a team-up from RZA and DJ Scratch and more great albums out March 4.
The Tiny Desk Contest — NPR Music’s annual search for the next great undiscovered artist to play a Tiny Desk concert — has been accepting entries for several weeks, and have already discovered some standout entries, including an introspective track from a Contest alum, a heartfelt song about a relationship’s end and a powerful plea with a personal message.
The conductor and composer Michael Tilson Thomas, who served as music director of the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years, has publicly confirmed that he's been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of aggressive brain cancer. Tilson Thomas is the co-founder and longtime artistic director of the New World Symphony, and said he’ll be stepping down from that position.
Between 1972 and '76, Stevie Wonder experienced what’s been called “The Greatest Creative Run in the History of Popular Music.” To mark its half-centennial, Morning Edition's A Martinez spoke with poet, cultural critic and NPR Music contributor Hanif Abdurraqib about Wonder’s classic period.
Last year, our Turning the Tables series asked writers to tell us about one record by a woman artist that changed their lives. To further that conversation, we’re sharing podcast episodes every week in March that pair writers from the series to talk about the records they chose. Up first, your newsletter editor Marissa talked with Ann Powers about our love for Yoko Ono and Kate Bush.
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NPR
Dearly beloved: We are gathered here today to get through this thing called "Afro-life." That’s the term that Nigerian star Fireboy DML uses to describe his wide-ranging sound — a fusion of R&B, Afrobeats, pop and alté (Nigeria's alternative scene) — that you can hear in his three-song Tiny Desk (home) concert.
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