The Open Ears Project

Violinist Nicola Benedetti reveals what hearing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto as a child taught her about listening, empathy and vulnerability.

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WNYC's Lee Hill recalls how "Little's Theme" from Nicholas Britell's score to Moonlight resonates with his own life experience as a queer black man and helps him stand in his own truth.

Director Sam Mendes explains how Carl Orff’s Gassenhauer helped him establish the mood for his first film, American Beauty.

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Comedienne Rachel Strauss-Muniz discusses sharing Mozart’s First Piano Sonata with her babies, and reflects on how their joy at hearing Mozart reminds her of how so much of the music we listen to is rooted in classical — and how music connects us all.

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Bandleader Jon Batiste talks about how Mickey Mouse sold him on The Rite of Spring and gives a scintillating insight into Stravinsky’s mind.

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Queer opera singer Jamie Barton talks about how Chopin's Nocturne No. 21 helped her to find her identity in a world in which she did not fit in.

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Conductor Eric Jacobsen recalls losing his beloved mother at the age of 11 and how her favourite piece, Franz Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 inspired him to become a musician.

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Novelist Ian McEwan remembers how Bach's Concerto for Two Violins helped him first to navigate selfhood as a teenager, and, later in life, the sorrow of losing his best friend.

Podcaster Aminatou Sow talks about how the cheerful defiance of Florence Price’s Juba Dance helped her through a life-changing moment.

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Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić discusses his deep connection to the longing for home expressed in Francisco Tárrega’s Lágrima.

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