NPR Classical Stories

After President Trump added his name to the Kennedy Center, artists have been canceling their performances in protest, putting a damper on holiday events, including the New Year's Eve celebrations.

NPR's A Martinez speaks with choreographer Doug Varone about his decision to cancel upcoming performances by his dance company at the Kennedy Center.

A previously unpublished radio play written by Tennessee Williams as a college student has been published in The Strand magazine. What does the work say about the playwright before he became famous?

The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building.

A northern English town loses its best choral singers to fighting in World War I but finds new hope in a time of loss through music in Nicholas Hytner's new film "The Choral," featuring Ralph Fiennes.

Nearly half of the revenue for large American ballet companies each year comes from the cozy seasonal favorite The Nutcracker. Since COVID, they have become even more dependent on those sugarplum fairies.

Washington, D.C.'s performing arts center was named for President Kennedy after his assassination. But his vision for the arts as a cornerstone of democracy was shared by Eisenhower and Johnson.

The arts institution will be called the Trump-Kennedy Center. The president's press secretary said it comes after a unanimous vote by the center's board, which Trump took over earlier this year.

Almost eight years after Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened on Broadway, Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, is now playing him as an adult onstage.

Discover a broad range of this year's most compelling classical recordings, including symphonic booty-shakers, mystic violin, pipe organ prog and a guided tour of 18th century German chart-toppers.

Guitarist Sean Shibe pushes his instrument to the limit in new music written for him by Thomas Adès, and softens the vibe with intimate pieces by Bach, Mompou and the eccentric street musician Moondog.

Stoppard, who died Nov. 29, wrote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and The Real Thing, and the screenplays for Empire of the Sun and Shakespeare in Love. Originally broadcast in 1991.