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If you've never heard of Bettye LaVette, the soul singer who belted out "A Change Is Gonna Come" with Jon Bon Jovi at the Inauguration Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on Jan 18., you may be wondering why.

He didn't see it coming when his sensitive crooning launched him to pop fame in 1996. But with one Tony Award-winning musical in the books and another production on the way, his work as a stage composer has put him in the spotlight again.

The conductor says that his goal is for more people to appreciate and recognize classical music for its complexity, organization and beauty. In an interview, Ponti discusses his work, his son and the best way for a classical-music novice to discover pure symphonic joy.

Joss Whedon's new television show, Dollhouse, follows a group of young women and men who have volunteered to have their personalities and memories erased.

The twins, both veterans of rock, improvisation and new music in Southern California, have released new albums simultaneously. And though they don't play on each others' discs, their shared aesthetics date back to the womb.

The avant-garde improviser used to joke: "I do country music; it's just a matter of what country." Now on his first North American tour in more than two decades, he describes his atmospheric electronics and soft, subtle trumpet style.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the debut release by the L.A. band Fol Chen. The album is called Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made.

With a husky whisper of a voice and a well-developed acoustic guitar style, Matt Ward might easily be pegged as a folk singer. But reviewer Meredith Ochs says his new album, Hold Time, points in many musical directions.

Pizzarelli is known as one of jazz's great chord soloists, as well as an extraordinary rhythm player. Now 83, Pizzarelli was recently honored by the New York Public Library as one of its speakers at the "Duke Jazz Talks," an interview series in which he performed with his son, John Pizzarelli.

She's best known for her original songwriting, but her cool, insinuating delivery is perfect for classics, too. She visits NPR's Studio 4A for a performance from her latest album, The Cole Porter Mix — plus a certain Valentine's Day standard.