Ahead of her MASS MoCA concert, pianist Lara Downes explains how western Massachusetts voices and local history shaped her music and traveling "Declaration Quilt."

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has invited other performing artists and public intellectuals to his August residency at Tanglewood, including civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson.

Pianist Lara Downes and Pulitzer-winning author Salamishah Tillet discuss Nina Simone and one of her best-known songs at her lovingly restored birthplace in Tryon, N.C.

The French pianists celebrate more than a half century of recording together with a triple-disc set containing many brand new tracks.

The song, penned before American Independence by a slave trader turned abolitionist, has remained a source of comfort, inspiration and redemption.

The composer created her own symphonic fable that weaves Andean cosmology with the natural world.

The Pulitzer-winning composer, whose unconventional music reflects the rugged landscapes he lives in, talks about his relationship to nature and his new piece Horizon.

Linguist and New York Times columnist John McWhorter joins pianist Lara Downs to explore the history of American music as a joyful noise, even in the toughest times.

John Gennari’s book explores how race and place intersect — and how that connection shapes the music that emerges.

On a new album, the experimental vocal group Roomful of Teeth and songwriter Gabriel Kahane take up residence in a multidimensional hotel with a time-traveling elevator and a quirky clientele.