Anastasia Tsioulcas
Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.
On happier days, Tsioulcas has celebrated the life of the late Aretha Franklin, traveled to Havana to profile musicians and dancers, revealed the hidden artistry of an Indian virtuoso who spent 60 years in her apartment and brought listeners into the creative process of composers Steve Reich and Terry Riley.
Tsioulcas was formerly a reporter and producer for NPR Music, where she covered breaking news in the music industry as well as a wide range of musical genres and artists. She has also produced episodes for NPR Music's much-lauded Tiny Desk concert series, and has hosted live concerts from venues like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge. She also commissioned and produced several world premieres on behalf of NPR Music, including a live event that brought together 350 musicians to debut a new work together. As a video producer, she created high-profile video shorts for NPR Music, including performances by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a Brooklyn theatrical props warehouse and pianist Yuja Wang in an icy-cold Steinway & Sons piano factory.
Tsioulcas has also reported from north and west Africa, south Asia, and across Europe for NPR and other outlets. Prior to joining NPR in 2011, she was widely published as a writer and critic on both classical and world music, and was the North America editor for Gramophone Magazine and the classical music columnist for Billboard.
Born in Boston and based in New York, Tsioulcas is a lapsed classical violinist and violist (shoutout to all the overlooked violists!). She graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a B.A. in comparative religion.
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Covering the spectacle and complexity of the Sean Combs trial required both modern and old-school reporting techniques.
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Sean Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but on the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking the jury found him not guilty.
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A federal jury in Manhattan has found hip-hop mogul Sean Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was found not guilty on more serious charges.
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The music mogul was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution, but the jury found him not guilty on three counts related to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. -
The jury considering the charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution against the music mogul Sean Combs began its deliberations.
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The latest witness to testify in Sean Combs' federal criminal trial was a former employee of the hip-hop executive. She's the second witness to accuse Combs of physical and sexual assault.
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Cassie Ventura was the highest profile witness to testify in the first two weeks of the criminal trial of Sean Combs, but the prosecution's case is dependent on much more than her testimony.
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The mogul's former protégé and girlfriend emerged as a promising pop artist in 2006. On the stand this week, she said her relationship with Combs and his label quickly became more about control. -
Swift's The Tortured Poets Department has been the biggest album in the country for 12 consecutive weeks, the longest run atop that chart of her career. -
This week, Shaboozey becomes only the second Black artist ever to top Billboard's pop and country singles charts at the same time. The first, earlier this year, was his collaborator, Beyoncé.
