John Schaefer

The LA Philharmonic replaces its 40-something conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, with a 27-year old phenom named Gustavo Dudamel. The Chicago Symphony then replaces its 65-year old leader, Daniel Barenboim, with the 66-year old Riccardo Muti, a veteran, universally-respected conductor. So, which one would YOU rather ...

In 1983, just a year after starting the “New Sounds” series here at WNYC, I started playing a couple of LPs by a composer named Arthur Russell. “Tower of Meaning” was a favorite – a series of majestic, slowly-unfolding, moody instrumentals by a guy ...

Yeah, yeah, Clear Channel is bad; live, local radio is good. The huge media conglomerate owns and operates a gazillion radio stations and makes them all sound alike. They are a behemoth that crushes the smaller, more interesting stations in each market. But you know what, that wouldn’t happen IF ...

I first picked up the guitar when I was 12. Unfortunately, I picked it up left-handed. Unable to figure out how to follow the guitar lessons on public tv (we couldn’t afford real lessons), I had to let the instrument go. But I always wanted to play, and when I ...

Music is such a powerful means of expression that it’s only natural that military leaders learned early on how to use it. Want an army to march in formation? A drum will work like magic – in fact, many ancient cultures though music WAS magical, precisely because it somehow seemed ...

Dawn Upshaw is a great singer. Wow, there’s a bold statement, huh? Everyone who knows her knows she’s a great soprano. Only I didn’t say 'soprano,' I said 'singer.' One of Upshaw’s strengths is how malleable her voice is, and how versatile the persona ...

When the first issue of SPIN came out in 1985, I was one of the magazine’s editors. The decision to put Madonna on the first cover was not mine, but I agreed with it – she was already a major player, and threatened to become “important.” Which she did. There’ve ...

When Greil Marcus first published his landmark book Mystery Train in 1975, American culture was something you could talk about as a single thing. We all watched the same menu of TV shows, and pop music was truly popular –- it seemed like everyone knew the words to “American Pie,” ...

Actually, only one type of TV theme song has really disappeared: The “explainer,” where the lyrics set up the story. Classic example: Gilligan’s Island (“just sit right back and you’ll hear the tale, the tale of a fateful trip…”). Some kids’ shows, like "Hannah Montana," still have something like ...

If I were running the Clinton or Obama campaigns, and had to pick a song that echoed the image each of them is trying to project, I’d tell Hillary to reclaim Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” from the Republicans who tried to co-opt it (against Petty’s wishes, apparently). ...

What is going on over in Williamsbeard? I mean Williamsburg. All these indie-rockers with their sudden facial hair… I’ve never seen myself as a bearded type, though I’ve idly wondered what it would be like. But unlike the hair on the top of my head, the hair on the bottom ...

When I started commuting to Manhattan to go to high school, I began to see my Queens neighborhood as sleepy, remote, and boring. That was (I hoped) not me, and not who I wanted to be. When I discovered this new style of music they were starting to call punk ...

The festival is all about live music, so here are some impressions of the live music I've seen:

Tuesday night. The opening party for the Music Festival is also the closing party for the Film Festival. It's at Stubb's.

Addictive TV is a ...

Weigh in: Tell us your favorite memories of the Leonard Lopate Show from over the years. Do you have a ...

The New York Philharmonic performed an historic concert in the East Pyongyang Grand Theater. WNYC's John Schaefer was part of the orchestra's entourage, and he hosted the concert broadcast. Now, Schaefer's baaaack. Don't miss what he had to say about the trip to North ...

Our North Korean handlers have been going crazy trying to maintain some semblance of order among the unruly mob that is the international press. But it turns out they will have the last laugh. At 7 am, room phones start to ring. Please pay your room and phone/internet charges between ...