In 2009, Smithsonian Folkways assumed stewardship of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music, a pioneering series of more than 100 field recordings from around the world. First out of the vault is ...

What drew you to India and its classical music? I arrived in India in the ’90s. At the time, I was studying at university, ...

Learn about the history, and future, of the musical art form. Devesh Chandra started playing the tabla (Indian hand drums) at age three, learning from the sounds of Northern Indian classical music ...

At the age of 40, Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf, but that did not stop him from composing the iconic Symphony No. 9—a masterpiece that would go on to shape classical music for centuries to come. His ...

The Rudra Veena, an ancient and almost forgotten Indian musical instrument, is believed to have been created by Lord Shiva while contemplating the perfect beauty of his consort Parvati. Its ...