Puerto Rico’s unstable electric grid affects every sector of society, including the island’s rich cultural scene. An outage abruptly ended an emerging pianist’s recent concert, touching a nerve.

This weekend, the San Antonio Philharmonic opens their first season with new music director Jeffrey Kahane, and welcomes hometown hero Nancy Zhou to perform the Brahms violin concerto. TPR's Nathan Cone has an extended interview with Kahane about his present and future plans with the orchestra.

The 2024 series of "Momentos Musicales" on KPAC 88.3 FM will explore indigenous languages of Latin America still in use, while also giving attention to the songs and musical instruments spawned by Nahuatl, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani, and Yucatecan Maya.

The San Antonio Philharmonic reached a deal to be a resident at the Scottish Rite Temple downtown.

When an air raid siren went off recently in Kyiv, a young singer spontaneously began harmonizing with the alarm. The result went viral on social media.

Harriet Constable learned a lot about the real life of Anna Maria della Pietà — that she grew up in an orphanage, that she was a star violinist and a favored student of Antonio Vivaldi. But in her new novel, The Instrumentalist, Constable also merges fact with fiction to tell the story of Anna Maria's synesthesia and musical talents. In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about Anna Maria's life, the challenges and excitement of the classical music world at the time, and what we make of Vivaldi today. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

Nearly 300 young musicians, their teachers and staff from their music school fled Afghanistan in fear for their lives as the Taliban took power. NPR caught up with them during their U.S. tour,

We're in Philadelphia where we meet a local teen composer who aspires to create more opportunities for fellow Black composers and learn how co-host Joseph Conyers, Philadelphia Orchestra's principal bassist, is making an impact through his service to the community. We also hear a young violinist perform a phenomenal work by contemporary composer Jessie Montgomery.

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with rapper RZA, who composed ballet music inspired by Greek musical scales during the pandemic, featured in a new album.