Folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84
“I simply write the songs about where I am and where I’m from,” Lightfoot once said. “I take situations and write poems about them.”
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How Lydia Mendoza, the First Queen of Tejano Music, Crossed Borders and Shaped a Tradition
Decades before fans called Selena Quintanilla-Pérez the Queen of Tejano music, singer and 12-string guitarist Lydia Mendoza held the crown as Tejano music’s first female icon. Born in 1916 to parents who migrated to Texas during the Mexican Revolution, Mendoza began her music career in a family band that performed on street corners and in open-air markets to make ends ...
The Women of Nordic Affect Share What Makes the Music of Iceland Some of the Coolest Stuff on Earth
Learn about what makes Iceland's music scene so unique from the only group that's performed with both Björk and The English Concert.
Just TRY Not to Weep Listening to Lila Downs Sing This Classic Canción Ranchera, “La Cruz de Olvido”
“I love to sing for people, and that helps with my mood swings too – especially folk music. Folk music is the mother of all music. It’s the people’s music. I am very grateful to express my views through the music. Music can make people confront reality and confront themselves.”
“Females Disrupting The Tap World” Explore Dance, Art, and Gender with New “Hansel and Gretel”
For jorsTap Chicago, a company that describes itself as “females disrupting the tap world,” dance functions not only as a storytelling medium but as a way to create safe spaces. The company’s latest project is a gender-inclusive re-telling of Hansel and Gretel created in collaboration with multimedia artist David Lee Csicsko. The original tale of a brother and sister who ...
This Amazon Parrot Singing “‘O Sole Mio” Along With Pavarotti Is All of Us When We Try to Sing Opera
Many musicians have performed the internationally beloved Italian song “‘O Sole Mio.” One songbird, a parrot in fact, performs the Neapolitan tune as a duet with the great Luciano Pavarotti. Composer Eduardo di Capua and lyricist Giovanni Capurro published their composition “‘O Sole Mio” in 1898. Since, it has been recorded by many artists including Andrea Bocelli and Elvis Presley. ...
Hearing These Merry Lads Sing “Now Is the Month of Maying” Is the Best Way to Start Your Month
May is the perfect time to hear the “merry lads” of the Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School sing outdoors.
Watch This Talented Chicken Peck Out Puccini
And she doesn’t sound as fowl as you might think, either.
KAIA Kids Around the World: The Music of Mexico
Mexico is home to many people and musical traditions. In the KAIA Kids adventure to Mexico, the quartet explores the history of mariachi and teaches you one of most popular mariachi tunes today, “México lindo y querido.”
Pianist Simone Dinnerstein on ‘Mozart in Havana,’ the Importance of Cross-Cultural Collaboration
American pianist Simone Dinnerstein's new album Mozart in Havana follows four years of artistic collaboration in Cuba.
From Polka to Mariachi, Discover Why Pilsen is One of Chicago’s Most Diverse Musical Melting Pots
If there’s any neighborhood in Chicago where a Czech swing orchestra and an Afro-Latin funk band can share a stage, it’s Pilsen. The neighborhood has been home to diverse music and musicians since its early history and today it remains a musical melting pot of traditions from around the world.
