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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A new public art monument dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King was unveiled Friday. It immediately drew consternation and jeers as well as plaudits. -
Syed was 18 when he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Lee was murdered in 1999 when she was also 18. -
The prolific author, poet, cultural critic, feminist and professor, who wrote more than three dozen wide-ranging books, died Wednesday at her home in Berea, Ky. -
The author and illustrator — who, by his own reckoning, worked on more than 270 titles — died Monday at age 85. Among his classics is the Caldecott winner Strega Nona, a seemingly ancient folk tale. -
Despite some very public bumps in his tenure, the head of the largest performing arts organization in the U.S. received a five-year extension to his contract. -
One of opera's most popular and bankable stars is scheduled to sing at New York's famed opera house next week. But a number of Met employees say that they find the situation untenable. -
The Dentsu Aegis Network, which had been funding the ambitious, three-day 50th-anniversary music festival with headliners including Jay-Z and Santana, says that the August event will not happen. -
The New York State Supreme Court dismissed most of the fallen music director's claims against the Metropolitan Opera and its general manager, Peter Gelb. Even so, both sides are claiming victory. -
Elizabeth Rowe, the symphony's principal flutist, filed suit against the orchestra last July. It was among the first lawsuits regarding gender pay gaps filed under a new Massachusetts law.
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The orchestra's top flutist, Elizabeth Rowe, says that she is paid substantially less than her closest counterpart — a man. Her suit may be the first filed under a new Massachusetts pay equity law.
