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Just in time for Halloween, Renee Montagne chats with music commentator Miles Hoffman about some of history's spookiest classical music.

Kurt Masur, the German conductor whose career spanned leading an orchestra in East Germany to more than a decade of reshaping the New York Philharmonic, has died at 88.

National Symphony Orchestra Music Director Gianandrea Noseda is reshaping the ensemble's sound with the help of 17th and 18th century instruments he purchased secretly.

With these 2009 releases, you'll find a few fresh faces: musicians hovering around age 30, including the young Jonathan Biss and the sublime Dutch fiddler Janine Jansen. Plus, this year proved exceptionally strong for music by and from Russians. Enjoy a sampling of both classic and less-familiar fare.

A new album by artists including Kate Bush and Imogen Heap protesting proposed changes to AI copyright laws is the latest in a history of musicians using silence to protest unfair economic treatment.

The Beach Boys' co-founder, songwriter and producer transformed pop music into high art and became America's answer to The Beatles' Lennon and McCartney in the process.

Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen explores questions of time, memory, nature and human isolation. His recent collaboration with soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan has garnered worldwide attention.

Demographer Phillip Longman says that regional inequality divides America. He tells NPR's Scott Simon which cities are doing well, which ones are falling behind, and how the U.S. got to this point.

In this week's installment of Alt.Latino, hear a collection of outstanding cover songs, from the bizarre to the sublime. A Mexican glam-rock band wipes the tears off a sad pop tune and gives it an edge, while a Colombian singer turns a macho ballad into a feminist song -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to conductor Marin Alsop about her upcoming performances with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City.