The Finest Piano Concerto Of The Young Century (And The Rest Of The Best Of February)

Plus, help us find the next NPR Music intern! by Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna Beck Harlan/NPR Finding an internship in the music industry can be ... difficult. Finding one that allows you to watch performances by world-class bands from the comfort of your desk, sit in on the wonderfully zany meetings of the NPR Music team, glimpse behind the scenes of your favorite shows — from All Songs Considered and Alt.Latino to Morning Edition and All Things Considered — and snack on handmade baked goods from the one and only Bob Boilen: Well, that’s a pretty special opportunity. Since January, we (music interns Emma and Jon) have done all of this and more! Emma recently [made her debut]( on All Songs Considered, and Jon [wrote about a great new song]( by Moses Sumney. We were also paid to do these things; how cool! [Applications are now open]( for NPR’s summer internship program, and whether your background is in music, journalism, design, finance, coding, or photography, there might be an opportunity waiting for you. Forward this email to a college student or recent college grad in your life and tell them to apply. If you're reading this and you are a college student or recent college grad, what are you waiting for? Apply now! [Just another intern with a resumé]( Emma Bowers and Jon Lewis --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- New Music - February may be a short month (happy Leap Day!), but despite the missing days, there’s been no shortage of new music worthy of your attention. On our [Top 20 Songs]( list, Sharon Van Etten offers a brooding ballad, Sam Hunt offers a contender for Song of the Summer and 100 gecs teams up with pop provocateurs Charli XCX, Rico Nasty and Kero Kero Bonito. Our [Top 10 Albums]( include Angelica Garcia’s roiling Cha Cha Palace , Pop Smoke’s drill epic and Royce Da 5’9”’s detailed allegory for black life in America. - We’ve already received hundreds of entries to this year’s [Tiny Desk Contest]( which is open until March 30. This week on the All Songs Considered blog, we highlighted [a few entries that impressed us]( including inspiring hip-hop, power-stance-worthy pop and more. - This week, [Viking’s Choice]( remembers the tangled folk-rock of Elyse Weinberg, a 1960s singer-songwriter and guitarist who was “once lost to time and later rediscovered by crate-diggers” — plus a playlist with music from Sign Libra, The Native Cats and Cirith Ungol. - When Taylor Swift performed “The Man” [at the Tiny Desk]( she explained she’d long wanted to critique gender double standards in a song. [Her new video]( takes the track’s conceit — what would it be like if Ms. Swift were Mr. Swift — to its logical conclusion, and includes a few nods to her public feud with Scooter Braun. --------------------------------------------------------------- Featuring - This week, the union representing opera performers, choral singers and dancers said in a press release that opera megastar Plácido Domingo [engaged in "inappropriate activity"]( with women both "in and outside of the workplace," according to an investigation it commissioned — the results of which it did not release to the public. Domingo responded with a statement, saying he is “truly sorry” and accepts “full responsibility” for his actions. But [the union’s response]( has angered accusers and caused rifts in its own governing body. Later in the week, another woman came forward to the Associated Press and [Domingo backpedaled]( on his apology. - [David Roback]( best known for his work in the group Mazzy Star, died earlier this week at the age of 61. Born in L.A., he became a central figure in the city’s influential Paisley Underground scene. - 20 years ago, Shakira released an album that cemented her status as a Latin rock icon, from her session for MTV’s Unplugged. As part of NPR Music’s 20|20 series, writer Isabella Gomez Sarmiento explores how the album [helped her find]( a deep, unwavering love staring her in the face. - Leave it to Thomas Adès to punch up the piano concerto formula with profound results. NPR Classical’s Tom Huizenga calls the [British composer’s new work]( perhaps the century’s most attractive concerto so far. --------------------------------------------------------------- Tiny Desk Laura Beltran Villamizar/NPR Your newsletter editors are longtime fans of [Jenny Lewis]( back from her days with her indie rock band Rilo Kiley and through her more recent solo releases — especially last year’s On The Line. At the Tiny Desk, she didn’t disappoint, bringing a stripped-down backing band, some utterly charming banter and even an office-wide singalong. Also at the Desk this week: Cuban band [Cimafunk]( us a sound that, according to Alt.Latino’s Felix Contreras, “would feel right at home in either the famed Apollo Theater or the hottest dance clubs of Havana.” --------------------------------------------------------------- One More Thing Thanks to two scholars at Stanford, you can now hear what singing inside Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia might have sounded like [500 years ago](. 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