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Dec 01
Blog

Julia Bullock: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. Soprano Julia Bullock prefers to be called a "classical singer." It's a rather humble, even vague, appellation for one of today's smartest, most arresting vocalists in any genre. She was just named Artist of the Year by Musical America, who labeled her an "agent of change." Bullock, who also considers herself an activist, has shaken up the classical music world recently with provocative programming and expressive performances. You can witness just that in this extraordinary Tiny Desk (home) concert from Munich, Germany with pianist and conductor Christian Reif, whose sensitive playing seems to anticipate and enhance Bullock's every phrase. He also happens to be her husband. Carefully choosing songs in German and English, Bullock begins with something bittersweet and introspective by Franz Schubert that cautions patience when looking for inner peace. She follows with "Wie lange noch" (How Much Longer), a World War II-era song by Kurt Weill. Written after Weill emigrated to the United States, the song contained coded messages for Germans back home. But Bullock has no time for secrets in these days fraught with uncertainty. The meaning behind her insistent cries of "How much longer?" as she stares straight through the camera, couldn't be more transparent. The next two songs are a gut-punch of clear-eyed observation, struggle and hope. The spiritual "City of Heaven" finds a determined protagonist facing down sorrow, while Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free," written at the height of the civil rights movement, speaks truth to power. At the very end, Bullock spins out a long flowing line on the word "free." It's among the most transcendent musical moments I've experienced this year. SET LIST Franz Schubert: "Wanderers Nachtlied II" Kurt Weill: "Wie lange noch" Traditional: "City Called Heaven" (arr. by Hall Johnson) Billy Taylor: "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" (arr. by Jeremy Siskind) MUSICIANS Julia Bullock: vocals Christian Reif: piano CREDITS Video and Audio: Julia Bullock, Christian Reif TINY DESK TEAM Producer: Tom Huizenga Video Producer: Maia Stern Audio Mastering: Josh Rogosin Associate Producer: Bobby Carter Tiny Production Team: Bob Boilen, Kara Frame, Morgan Noelle Smith Executive Producer: Lauren Onkey Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
By Tom Huizenga
Dec 01
Blog

Julia Bullock: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

By Tom Huizenga
Aug 18
Blog

Víkingur Ólafsson: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Watch the rising young pianist, in a final performance from his Berlin home, make the case for two seemingly disparate French composers born nearly 200 years apart.

By Tom Huizenga
Aug 18
Blog
Víkingur Ólafsson: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
By Tom Huizenga
Aug 03
Blog

Leon Fleisher, The Pianist Who Reinvented Himself, Dies At 92

The beloved pianist was a young lion of his generation until a hand injury forced him to rethink his relationship to music.

By Tom Huizenga
Aug 03
Blog
Leon Fleisher, The Pianist Who Reinvented Himself, Dies At 92
By Tom Huizenga
Jul 14
Blog

Someone Finally Remembered William Dawson’s ‘Negro Folk Symphony’

Broadcast nationwide in 1934 and praised by listeners and critics alike, a masterful symphony soon fell silent. A new recording hopes to help revive an American treasure.

By Tom Huizenga
Jul 14
Blog
Someone Finally Remembered William Dawson’s ‘Negro Folk Symphony’
By Tom Huizenga
Jun 16
Blog

Clarinetist Anthony McGill Kneels, Pleads And Plays For Justice

With the help of a few "wrong" notes, the principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic turned "America the Beautiful" into a solemn protest of police violence.

By Tom Huizenga
Jun 16
Blog
Clarinetist Anthony McGill Kneels, Pleads And Plays For Justice
By Tom Huizenga
May 31
Blog

Lara Downes: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Watch the pianist reimagine old spirituals and songs of freedom that continue to resonate in new ways.

By Tom Huizenga
May 31
Blog
Lara Downes: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
By Tom Huizenga
May 27
Blog

Our Daily Breather: Steve Reich Composes During The Coronavirus Crisis

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Steve Reich tells NPR Music about his new composition.

By Tom Huizenga
May 27
Blog
Our Daily Breather: Steve Reich Composes During The Coronavirus Crisis
By Tom Huizenga
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