Tom Huizenga
Tom Huizenga is a producer for NPR Music. He contributes a wide range of stories about classical music to NPR's news programs and is the classical music reviewer for All Things Considered. He appears regularly on NPR Music podcasts and founded NPR's classical music blog Deceptive Cadence in 2010.
Joining NPR in 1999, Huizenga produced, wrote and edited NPR's Peabody Award-winning daily classical music show Performance Today and the programs SymphonyCast and World of Opera.
He's produced live radio broadcasts from the Kennedy Center and other venues, including New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge, where he created NPR's first classical music webcast featuring the Emerson String Quartet.
As a video producer, Huizenga has created some of NPR Music's noteworthy music documentaries in New York. He brought mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato to the historic Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, placed tenor Lawrence Brownlee and pianist Jason Moran inside an active crypt at a historic church in Harlem, and invited composer Philip Glass to a Chinatown loft to discuss music with Devonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange).
He has also written and produced radio specials, such as A Choral Christmas With Stile Antico, broadcast on stations around the country.
Prior to NPR, Huizenga served as music director for NPR member station KRWG, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and taught in the journalism department at New Mexico State University.
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Huizenga's radio career began at the University of Michigan, where he produced and hosted a broad range of radio programs at Ann Arbor's WCBN-FM. He holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan in English literature and ethnomusicology.
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Growing up in a progressive city, Ludwig van Beethoven embraced the ideals of the Enlightenment, the philosophical movement that shook Europe and helped shape the composer's music.
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When young composers explore old musical formulas, exciting things can happen. Mass for the Endangered is a contemporary twist on an ancient tradition.
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The beloved pianist was a young lion of his generation until a hand injury forced him to rethink his relationship to music.
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Broadcast nationwide in 1934 and praised by listeners and critics alike, a masterful symphony soon fell silent. A new recording hopes to help revive an American treasure.
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In a new album of keyboard concertos, hear how J.S. Bach's son charted his own startling and original path in music that sparkles with unpredictability
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Known early on for his avant-garde works, the composer's challenging music nevertheless found fans far beyond traditional classical music circles.
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A thoughtful musician from a distinguished family, Serkin interpreted the classics and expanded the repertoire by commissioning new works.
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On her new album, the restless Italian opera star sings virtuoso music composed for Farinelli, the greatest of the baroque castratos.
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Before any opera purists start wringing their hands, let's remember that the 400-year-old art form has proven itself terrifically adaptable and resilient.
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The singer crafted a distinctive career that spanned decades and styles. Though a leading figure in her field, Norman's repertoire, fanbase and achievements stretched far beyond the opera house.
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The battle between management and musicians, which reached a low point with a June lockout by management, ended Monday with the ratification of a new one-year contract.
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After nearly a year, the 103-year-old orchestra's musicians and management are still at odds over a new contract. Its new season is scheduled to begin on Saturday.