A banjo player named for three classical composers, Béla Anton Leos Fleck celebrates both bluegrass and classical sounds with his original music, to be performed in the New Orleans area from Jan. 8-10 ...

Classic Banjo, out August 6, features tracks by the best American banjo players over the past 60 years. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings The banjo conjures American musical icons: the ...

Tim Weed has heard all the banjo jokes -- the constant digs about the banjo in the movie Deliverance or the Beverly Hillbillies TV show. But a funny thing happens when Weed actually plays the ...

Early American banjo music is Black music. The banjo was created by enslaved African Americans, and according to the Smithsonian Institute, up until the 1830s, the banjo was exclusively an African ...

The New American Banjo Festival isn’t just a celebration for enthusiasts of the banjo’s distinctive twang. “New American Banjo speaks to an idea of exploration of new styles of banjo playing, or folks ...

For Renée Fleming, returning to Spoleto Festival USA is something of a full-circle moment. Long before she became one of the world’s most recognizable sopranos — singing at the Super Bowl, the Nobel ...