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." -
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. -
In a night when Eilish, the youngest artist to win Album and Record of the year, might have otherwise been the whole story, the Recording Academy could not quite put its recent scandals behind it. -
In an EEOC complaint filed Tuesday, Deborah Dugan made several bombshell allegations against the Recording Academy — including that her predecessor, Neil Portnow, raped a female artist. -
A task force on diversity and inclusivity led by Time's Up executive Tina Tchen made sweeping recommendations that could transform the Recording Academy. -
The fast-rising rapper collapsed at Chicago's Midway Airport in the early hours of Sunday. The Cook County medical examiner confirmed his death to NPR. -
His simultaneous dismissal from two of the world's leading opera houses comes after an investigation into allegations of misconduct during a Royal Opera performance in Tokyo. -
The case laid out in Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly represents just one more milestone in a quarter-century of controversy surrounding the R&B superstar. Here's a timeline of the major moments. -
The pop megastar's former label announced Monday that it had an agreement with the made-for-TV event. The awards show's producers say otherwise. -
Other first-time nominees include Dave Matthews Band, Soundgarden and The Doobie Brothers.
