Renee Montagne talks with Miles Hoffman about the history of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite. Hoffman is the violist of the American Chamber Players, and authored The NPR Classical Music Companion.

As temperatures descend, something inevitable is in the air. The time of year has arrived for productions of "The Nutcracker" to proliferate around the globe. Prepare for an onslaught of rising ...

Listen to how Tchaikovsky uses the celesta in “The Nutcracker,” unleashing the potential of the instrument to signal playfulness and fantasy. By Joshua Barone Photographs and Video by Vincent Tullo ...

It’s impossible to imagine the Christmas season without “The Nutcracker,” a beloved ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Written in 1892, this two-act classical ballet remains a symbol of the holiday ...

Few things evoke the holiday spirit quite like the instantly recognizable “Nutcracker” score. Composed in 1892 by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the iconic music plays as important a role in the show as the ...

Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker is a magical musical journey to the land where all good dreams come true. Ever child-like in his fascination with an exotic idea or an unusual sound, Tchaikovsky ...

In a study called 'the largest investigation of the association between playing a musical instrument and brain development,' a child psychiatry team has found that musical training might also help ...

It takes some doing in this country to be more than about 25 miles from a production of “The Nutcracker” during the Christmas season. The ballet has become as American as Friday Night Lights and as ...

If it's good enough for the ad men, it must be a pretty good tune. Are you old enough to remember 'Everyone's a fruit and nut case'? Has the music that promotes the Russian gas company caught your ear ...

He's been a Tony-awarded lyricist and director of "Forbidden Broadway," but now Gerard Alessandrini has taken on a new role. Exterminator. In his new version of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" — ...

Children who play the violin or study piano could be learning more than just Mozart. A University of Vermont College of Medicine child psychiatry team has found that musical training might also help ...