Music: Whats the Buzz from National Public Radio

Here is the latest Music News from NPR.

Itzhak Perlman On Canceling In North Carolina: ‘I Had To’
Like Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and others, the renowned violinist has canceled a North Carolina appearance over a law limiting civil rights protections for LGBT people.

Is Battle Fatigue Over? The Met Rehires A Banned Soprano
After 22 years away from the Metropolitan Opera, acclaimed soprano Kathleen Battle will return for a November concert of spirituals.

Cellist And Conductor Allegedly Helped Russians Move Billions Of Dollars
Russian musician Sergei Roldugin has emerged at the center of the massive data leak known as the Panama Papers. He is allegedly at the center of his country’s offshore banking activities.

Has ‘An American In Paris’ Been Honking Up The Wrong Key?
The composition is so popular that old-timey taxi horns Gershwin called for are rented by orchestras all over the country. But a musicologist says they’ve been using the wrong ones.

Twitter Outrage Takes Toronto, Canceling Two Pianists
Classical pianist Valentina Lisitsa is a YouTube star. Reactions to her divisive and fiercely political Twitter account became the catalyst for a string of problems at the Toronto Symphony.

Get Out And Hear Some New Music This Summer
From fully staged operas to intimate chamber pieces — at seaside settings and mountain vistas — summer festivals this year offer a broad array of modern music.

3-D Printers Bring Historic Instruments Back To The Future
You just can’t stick a modern mouthpiece on an antique saxophone and get the right sound. The answer could be in the lab.

After Thaw, Minnesota Orchestra Returns To Cuba
This week, the ensemble became the first professional U.S. orchestra since 1999 to play in Cuba — 86 years after its first visit to Havana.

‘Tristan Und Isolde,’ The Love Story That Changed Opera For Good
Wagner’s epic meditation on love turns 150. Projected on a cosmic level, the music triggered a seismic shift in Western music.

By Their Fingertips: Teen Pianists In New Cliburn Competition
The Van Cliburn Foundation is hosting its first international piano competition for young players. Some are wondering if the new contest is too much pressure too soon.

Why Conductor Kirill Petrenko Fits The Berlin Philharmonic
When the little-known Russian native came to guest conduct the orchestra, horn player Sarah Willis says, it was “love at first sight” — and his passion for music sets him apart.

One Feisty Victorian Woman’s Opera Revived
A skilled mountain climber who knew Tchaikovsky and Brahms, Ethel Smyth was a big personality whose politically charged opera The Wreckers gets its first fully staged production in the U.S.

Sound Design: The Art Of The Album Cover
For graphic designer Denise Burt, knowing little about classical music actually helped her create cutting-edge album covers. See her work and hear the music that inspired it.

Why Can’t Artist Bios Be Better?
Artist biographies on websites, in concert programs and press releases are often deadly dull and irrelevant. Why not use them as vehicles for insight and engagement?

Farewell To Blackfaced Otellos At The Met
In its season opening production, New York’s Metropolitan Opera abandons the tradition of darkening the skin of tenors portraying the title role in Verdi’s Otello.

30 Years After Their Father’s Murder, Klinghoffer Daughters Step Onto Their Own Stage
Leon Klinghoffer was killed during the hijacking of the Achille Lauro — and later became a character in a controversial opera. His daughters want people to know him in a different way.

A New Music Journey From The U.S. To Havana
A misunderstanding morphed into an exciting idea: Take 10 American composers to Cuba. Hear their Havana concert.

Classical Music In 2015: The Year In Review
As a new year begins, take a quick glance back at some of the notable birthdays, anniversaries, awards, trends and farewells that made 2015 unique in classical music.

A Young Afghan Pianist Plays For His Country’s Future
“I want to show the new face of Afghanistan,” says 18-year-old Elham Fanoos, now studying piano at Hunter College in New York.