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.

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Deceptive Cadence
1:20 pm
Thu May 9, 2013

Moms In Opera: Women On The Edge

Originally published on Thu May 9, 2013 2:43 pm

We love mothers for all the Hallmark reasons: for their compassion and patience, not to mention giving birth. But some moms aren't exactly greeting card friendly — and none less so than those who live in the opera house.

This is opera, after all, so we expect the outrageous. But operatic moms seem to be disproportionately portrayed as murderers, harpies or generally women on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Your Normas, Medeas, Butterflies, Queens of the Night and Clytemnestras.

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Deceptive Cadence
10:44 am
Tue April 23, 2013

Music We Love Now: Three Must-Hear Piano Albums

Originally published on Tue April 23, 2013 12:22 pm

The young Austrian pianist Ingolf Wunder shines in Mozart, Jorge Federico Osorio reintroduces an intoxicating Mexican concerto and Elisveta Blumina reveals the gentle side of Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov.

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WRTI Picks from NPR Music
3:09 pm
Wed April 17, 2013

The Conductor Who Gained Power By Giving It Up

Credit Alberto Venzago
Colin Davis found power in humility later in his career — and one astonished music journalist.
Deceptive Cadence
11:47 am
Mon April 15, 2013

Maria Callas On The Move: A Diva Does D.C.

Originally published on Mon April 15, 2013 12:02 pm

As one door closes, another opens. Last week, we shut down operations at our old Washington, D.C, headquarters; today, we walked into a brand-new building.

Making the move wasn't easy. In 14 years, I'd acquired an impressive amount of stuff, from LPs autographed by Placido Domingo and Tom Jones to books like The Essential Guide to Dutch Music. And did I really need three staple removers?

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WRTI Picks from NPR Music
4:20 pm
Wed April 10, 2013

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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WRTI Picks from NPR Music
2:29 pm
Tue April 9, 2013

Can Yo-Yo Ma Fix The Arts?

Credit David Hathcox/Americans for the Arts
Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Cristina Pato perform during Ma's Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center.

Originally published on Wed April 10, 2013 11:54 am

Deceptive Cadence
2:29 pm
Fri March 29, 2013

Marches Madness: Rubbing Aladdin's Lamp

Credit Lukiyanova Natalia / iStockphoto.com
Deceptive Cadence
1:03 pm
Thu March 28, 2013

The Good Friday 5: Musical Passion Stories You Must Hear

Originally published on Thu March 28, 2013 6:17 pm

For Christians around the world, this week, leading up to Easter Sunday, is one of the most meaningful in the religious calendar. The dramatic story of Jesus' final days, as related in the four Gospels of the New Testament, has been meaningful for composers, too, and a rich source for many musical settings of the Passion story. J.S. Bach is still the benchmark when it comes to composing Passions. His St.

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Classics in Concert
2:29 pm
Wed March 27, 2013

Live At Carnegie Hall: Jonathan Biss and The Elias String Quartet

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 10:31 am

In October, pianist Jonathan Biss set out on a vision quest, a season-long immersion in music by Robert Schumann. Biss and the members of England's Elias String Quartet have been exploring Schumann and associated composers in cities throughout Europe and North America, including a Carnegie Hall concert webcast live on this page (and at WQXR) Tuesday, April 2 at 8 p.m. ET.

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Deceptive Cadence
10:47 am
Mon March 25, 2013

Marches Madness: From Trash Can To Flagpole

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Wed March 27, 2013 11:55 am

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