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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"We are devastated to share this news with you," organizers said. " 'The show must go on' is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place." -
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. -
The ongoing Smollett drama, centering around an alleged faked hate crime against the actor, has opened a fresh chapter. A special prosecutor in Cook County has announced a six-count indictment. -
The band of Tuareg guitarists — who have faced down Islamic extremism at home in Mali — are receiving violent threats and racist responses to a scheduled concert in North Carolina in September. -
Following heated criticism from human rights groups, Nicki Minaj has pulled out of a music festival in Saudi Arabia that she was scheduled to headline on July 18. -
The Eurovision Song Contest starts next week in Tel Aviv. A cultural collective in Gaza is calling for a boycott of the competition; Israel has responded with PR videos and a "BDS" website of its own. -
The Gershwin estate stipulates that Porgy and Bessshould be performed by an all-black cast. The Hungarian State Opera in Budapest reportedly asked its mostly white cast to say that they are black. -
Singer R. Kelly spoke to CBS' Gayle King in an interview that aired Wednesday morning. Kelly denied any sexual misconduct with underage girls.
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The R&B singer appeared in court in Chicago on Monday morning. He has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. A judge had set his bond at $1 million on Saturday.
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The R&B star singer has been dogged for decades by allegations that he has sexually abused underage girls and women. Kelly now faces 10 counts of abuse.