Musicians

The hate crime that killed Matthew Shepard was the impetus for a new choral work.

A New Choral Work Was Inspired by the Death of Matthew Shepard

“Considering Matthew Shepard” finds hope inside a story of hate

The Powerful Objects From the Collections of the Smithsonian's Newest Museum

These artifacts each tell a part of the African-American story

While on tour in the 1980s and 1990s, Ray Charles played this Yamaha KX88 electronic keyboard MIDI controller, customized with Braille.

How the Library of Congress Is Digitizing Its Braille Music Collection

It’s not as simple as putting it through a scanner

Avi Avital is the featured performer in "InstaConcerto for Mandolin and Orchestra," a 75-second concerto written for Instagram.

This Classical Mandolinist Makes Music With...Instagram?

“InstaConcerto for Mandolin and Orchestra” plays with a genre known more for its selfies than its chamber music

Researcher Ricardo Godoy conducts an experiment with a member of the Tsimane

Researchers Travel to the Amazon to Find Out if Musical Taste is Hardwired

Members of the Tsimane tribe showed no preference between consonant and dissonate tones, meaning Western music is probably not biologically based

The Rolling Stones performing live at Summerfest, Milwaukee, on 23 June 2015

For Rolling Stones Fans, This Book Is a Dream Come True

Journalist and author Rich Cohen first covered the Stones on tour in the 90s. Now he revisits that trip and the band’s epic history

Johnny Gandelsman (violin), Colin Jacobsen (violin), and Nicholas Cords (viola) performing with fellow Silk Road Ensemble musicians

Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble Celebrates Our Differences Through Song

"Sing Me Home" is a multicultural feast for the ears

Montruex's Freddie Mercury statue

Break Free in Freddie Mercury's Montreux

Visit the Swiss town where Queen's frontman recorded some of his greatest hits

Prince's Minnesota home and studio is known as "Paisley Park."

Prince’s Paisley Park Studios Will Become a Museum

A la Graceland

The page of The Consolation of Philosophy once stolen from The Cambridge Songs

'Lost' Medieval Music Performed for the First Time in 1,000 Years

Researchers and musicians at Cambridge reconstruct songs from 'The Consolation of Philosophy'

Prince designed and used this 1989 custom-made Yellow-cloud electric guitar, built by the Minneapolis firm Knut-Koupee. It features his personal symbol at the top and on the side of the fingerboard.

Beyond Raspberry Berets: What Prince Left Behind

From portraits to guitars, The Artist’s legacy lives on at the Smithsonian

Run-DMC-JMJ on the rooftop of Russell Simmons's apt

Vintage Photos Recall the Early Days of Hip-Hop, Before It Became a Billion-Dollar Industry

More than 400 images from the 1980s to the early 2000s detail the "standout moments" of the rise of Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Jay Z and many more artists

Don Cheadle stars as Miles Davis in the new film Miles Ahead.

Smithsonian Jazz Expert Gives Liner Notes to the New Miles Davis Biopic

The American History Museum's James Zimmerman dives into Miles Davis' sound and style

Three Surprising Finds from the New Alan Lomax Archive

A new online database shares more than 17,000 recordings from the folk music archivist

A self-portrait made by Johnny Rotten on the walls of the studio where the Sex Pistols recorded their first demos.

Johnny Rotten's Graffiti Made These Buildings Historic Landmarks

The Sex Pistols’ home and recording studio are now protected as a cultural heritage sites

Tom Randle plays Macheath, or “Mack the Knife,” in a production of Benjamin Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera.

The Strange Career of “Mack the Knife”

As old Macheath is inducted into the National Recording Registry, here's a look back at his long musical life

This Machine Makes Music With Marbles

The absurd-looking device is a marble-powered, one-man band

A trumpet recovered from the USS Houston undergoes treatment at the Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology Branch laboratory on the Washington Navy Yard, Dec. 31, 2013.

A Trumpet Retrieved From a World War II Shipwreck Could Still Hold Its Owner’s DNA

Conservators are trying to identify the sailor who once played it

Bill Cherry, one of the headlining acts during the week.

Go Behind the Scenes at America's Most Lucrative Elvis Presley Tribute Contest

Get all shook up with the winners of this year's Tribute to the King

The Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, once partially owned by a member of the Chicago mafia syndicate.

Eat (and Drink) Your Way Through Sinatra's Chicago

See why the Windy City was without a doubt his kind of town

Page 12 of 15