Tom Huizenga

Credit Mito-Habe Evans

Tom Huizenga is a music producer, reporter and blogger for NPR Music. He hosts NPR's classical music blog Deceptive Cadence.

A regular contributor of stories about classical music on NPR's news programs, Huizenga regularly introduces intriguing new classical CDs to listeners on the weekend version of All Things Considered. He contributes to NPR Music's "Song of the Day."

During his time at NPR, Huizenga spent seven years as a producer, writer and editor for NPR's Peabody Award-winning daily classical music magazine Performance Today, and for the programs SymphonyCast and World of Opera. He produced the live broadcast of Gershwin's Porgy & Bess from Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, concerts from NPR's Studio 4A and performances on the road at Summerfest La Jolla, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and New York's Le Poisson Rouge.

Huizenga's radio career began at the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1986. During his four year tenure, he regularly hosted several radio programs (opera, jazz, free-form, experimental radio) at Ann Arbor's WCBN. As a student in the Enthnomusicology department, Huizenga studied and performed traditional court music from Indonesia. He also studied English Literature and voice, while writing for the university's newspaper.

After college Huizenga took his love of music and broadcasting to New Mexico, where he served as music director for NPR member station KRWG, in Las Cruces, and taught radio production at New Mexico State University.

Huizenga lives in Takoma Park, MD, with his wife Valeska Hilbig, a public affairs director at the Smithsonian. In his spare time he writes about music for the Washington Post, overloads on concerts and movies and swings a tennis racket wildly on many local courts.

1:24pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Music

Gods And Monsters: 5 Unforgettable Wagner Moments

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 4:02 pm

  • William Berger on 'Parsifal'
  • William Berger on 'Das Rheingold'
  • William Berger on 'Die Walküre'
  • William Berger on 'Tristan und Isolde'
  • William Berger on 'Die Meistersinger'

How much do you know about Richard Wagner? Probably two unfavorable facts: He wrote very long, grandiose operas and was Hitler's favorite composer. As true as they are, those simple examples barely hint at the complexity of this endlessly creative and confounding artist.

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8:37pm

Sat April 6, 2013
Deceptive Cadence

Vespers, Habaneras And Early Morning Walks: New Classical Albums

Originally published on Sun April 7, 2013 6:52 pm

Robert Frost's famous poem "The Road Not Taken" begins with the line: "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood." Frost's traveler must choose between them. But slide that metaphor over to the world of classical music and you will discover hundreds of paths to explore.

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3:54pm

Thu February 14, 2013
Deceptive Cadence

Measures Of Affection: Five Musical Love Letters

Originally published on Fri February 15, 2013 12:21 pm

Credit Johansen Krause / Peter Lieberson

9:24pm

Fri January 18, 2013
Music

Who Needs Drugs When You've Got Music?

Originally published on Thu January 17, 2013 9:09 pm

It happened again last Saturday. And boy, when it hit me it felt great — though it left me a little shaken.

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3:03pm

Mon December 24, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

What Ever Happened To The Classical Christmas Album?

Originally published on Thu January 3, 2013 2:38 pm

Credit Mito Habe-Evans / NPR

3:04pm

Sun December 9, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

A Bald Mezzo And Three Shades Of Violin: Classical Favorites From 2012

Originally published on Sun December 9, 2012 7:09 pm

From mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli's ambitious revival of the early Baroque composer Agostino Stefani (and yes, she's got another outrageous album cover) to three very different roles for the violin, here's a clutch of classical albums I returned to again and again this year for sheer delight and aural inspiration. Bartoli lavishes extravagant attention on the music of a fascinating but forgotten link in the history of opera.

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3:50pm

Tue November 6, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

Elliott Carter, Giant Of American Music, Dies At 103

Originally published on Tue November 6, 2012 8:08 pm

3:48pm

Thu August 9, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

You Are What You Hear: What Your Favorite Music Says About You

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 3:57 pm

Credit iStockphoto.com

3:30pm

Sun August 5, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

Headbanging Bruckner And Debussy In Black And White: New Classical Albums

Originally published on Tue August 7, 2012 5:14 pm

Some people are intimidated by the vastness of classical music. And while the prospect of more than 1,000 years of hits to consider may be daunting, just think instead of how many musical journeys of discovery can be made.

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9:52am

Thu July 26, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

A Know-It-All's Guide To Olympic Music

Originally published on Thu July 26, 2012 6:24 pm

Credit Tony Duffy / Getty Images

3:41pm

Sat May 5, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

Fireworks From Cuba, And Schubert That Grooves: New Classical Albums

Originally published on Sun May 6, 2012 7:37 pm

Although it always seems fashionable to forecast the downfall of classical music, enterprising musicians both young and not so young continue to make deeply satisfying recordings. For this visit to weekends on All Things Considered, I was delighted to uncover the little known (at least in this country) Jorge Luis Prats, a terrifically talented Cuban pianist whose once uncertain career appears to be resurging — at 55, he has signed a handsome record deal. Then there's The Knights, a young chamber orchestra with a postmodern take on Schubert.

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12:51pm

Sun February 12, 2012
Deceptive Cadence

From Hyperpianos To Harmonious Handel: New Classical Albums

What's the saying — the more things change, the more they stay the same? It seems that's how it goes in the ways we make music. MIT futurologist Tod Machover rethinks traditional instruments, coming up with new things like the hyperpiano; Pianist Michael Chertock gives it a go in an explosive excerpt below.

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1:40pm

Sun December 11, 2011
Deceptive Cadence

Clouds, Concertos And A Trip To Fiji: New Classical Albums

Originally published on Fri February 10, 2012 3:07 pm

With all the chatter about the death of the compact disc, anxiety in the recording industry and the domination of downloads, the flood of CDs overflowing my mailbox never seems to recede. Need a new Bruckner 4th, an Adès anthology or piano music by Pärt? How about Azerbaijani concertos, Schubert sonatas or a new Midsummer Night's Dream?

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