Oct 30th, 2008 · Gustavo Santaolalla is perhaps best known for his film scores in Brokeback Mountain and The Motorcycle Diaries. Now, the Academy Award-winner has gone back to his roots as a musician. In a session from WBGO, Santaolalla talks about his film music and plays a lute-like instrument solo.
Oct 2nd, 2008 · The global community has always struggled with developing strategies that help stop violence and create peace. Jane Holl Lute, the new head of the United Nation's Peacebuilding Commission, on what it takes to keep the peace, and what can be done to sustain peace in countries throughout the world.
Feb 17th, 2008 · With peyote rattles, lullabies, wedding music and toy instruments, composer Terry Riley has created a new work for the Kronos Quartet and Chinese lute player Wu Man, which explores the magical area between fantasy and reality.
May 16th, 2007 · The White House has named Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute to serve on President Bush's National Security Council and to oversee the current fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some are calling him the "war czar," but it's not clear just how much power Lute will actually have, or how he will fit into the military-civilian mix.
Oct 16th, 2006 · Refined Elizabethan music might not come to mind when you think of Sting. Think again. The rock star has released Songs of the Labyrinth, a new CD of songs for voice and lute by John Dowland, one of that era's most important composers.
Jul 14th, 2006 · A stroll off the beaten path of the classics leads inexorably to the lute -- and its Arabic precursor, the oud. From the NPR studios, lutenist Hopkinson Smith plays a Bransle de Poitou, from 16th-century France. Then, oud player Ramiro Amusategui improvises on a traditional Moroccan tune.