A Latin ode to Michael JacksonGot a case of the Mondays? We’re hoping that this performance from TEDxFIU might be enough to snap you out it. In this video, Peruvian and Japanese musician Tony Succar gives an big band tribute to his favorite musician, Michael Jackson, imagining what his classic songs would sound like with Latin flair. Get ready to […]
10 talks that involve highly unusual instrumentsMusic comes in all shapes and sizes, as these talks illustrate. From an electric drum suit called “thunderwear” to an ancient stringed wheel to an arresting rare organ, the instruments featured in these talks reshape our soundscape and offer inspiration in the cacophonous world around us. David Holt plays mountain music In this amiable talk […]
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, artist and filmmaker Usman Riaz started recording his debut album, Circus in the Sky, at 18, shaking up the music scene in Pakistan. Then he rocked the TEDGlobal 2012 stage with a world-class performance on percussive guitar, alongside his hero, Preston Reed. Now he’s poised to make a global ruckus. You’ve accomplished a […]
What is a mistake? By talking through examples with his improvisational Jazz quartet, Stefon Harris walks us to a profound truth: many actions are perceived as mistakes only because we don’t react to them appropriately. (Recorded at TEDSalon NY 2011, November 2011, in New York, New York. Duration: 13:11) Watch Stefon Harris’s talk on TED.com, where you […]
The TED team is eagerly watching our content partner conference, TEDMED, happening now in California. (Look for TEDMED video fresh from stage in the coming weeks!) TED’s own Nafissa, is reporting from the conference; this morning, she caught a few minutes with TEDTalks favorite Charles Limb, who studies what creativity looks like in the brains […]
TED’s musical director, Thomas Dolby, will be touring the United States in October, talking about his online game, The Floating City, and playing songs from his new album live. Here’s where you can catch him: Washington, DC, The Loft: Oct. 3. New York City, Tribeca: Oct. 5. Chicago, Martyr’s: Oct. 7. Seattle, The Triple Door: […]
Can opera be ever-so-slightly sexy? The glorious soprano Danielle de Niese shows how, singing the flirty “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss.” Which, translated, means, as you might guess: “I kiss so hot.” From Giuditta by Frans Lehár; accompanist: Ingrid Surgenor. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2011, July 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Duration: 5:55.) Watch Danielle de […]
The Floating City is a rich multiplayer transmedia game within a living world based around Thomas Dolby’s latest musical endeavors. “The Floating City is set against a dystopian vision of the 1940s that might have existed had WWII turned out a lot differently,” says Dolby. A global energy experiment went haywire, the Earth’s magnetic fields […]
A year ago this week, Mission Blue Voyage set sail. This TED Prize-inspired trip brought together scientists, activists and funders around one of the biggest issues we face: how to stop the degradation of the ocean. Read Chris Anderson’s report on what was accomplished onboard >> Sylvia Earle, when making her TED Prize wish, asked […]
Watch the full-length version of “Sleep,” Eric Whitacre’s new work, sung by a YouTube-powered choir of more than 2,000 singers from around the world. The nine-minute work was premiered last night at the Paley Center in New York — and on YouTube. And watch Eric Whitacre’s TEDTalk, where he talks about his creative process and […]
In a moving and madly viral video last year, composer Eric Whitacre led a virtual choir of singers from around the world. He talks through the creative challenges of making music powered by YouTube, and unveils the first 2 minutes of his new work, “Sleep,” with a video choir of 2,052. (Recorded at TED2011, March […]
TED’s musical director, Thomas Dolby, releases his new EP Oceanea today, a preview to his upcoming full-length A Map of the Floating City — set to be his first studio record in two decades. You can download Oceanea on iTunes or from Thomas’ website (where you can also read about the EP’s production). Metro calls […]
DJs frosty and Turquoise Widsom of dublab.com put together the mix of tunes that played before and after each speaker session at TEDActive 2011. They called it the Entry Mix, and it’s well worth a listen. (It’s available in streaming audio or for download.) Listen here »
At TEDxRotterdam, world champion whistler Geert Chatrou performs the whimsical “Eleonora” by A. Honhoff, and his own “Fête de la Belle.” In a fascinating interlude, he talks about what brought him to the craft. (Recorded at TEDxRotterdam, June 2010, in Rotterdam, NL. Duration: 11:57) Watch Geert Chatrou’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, […]
In his TEDTalk (watch now), Charles Limb reviews his groundbreaking work studying creativity and the brain — by putting musicians inside an fMRI and watching as they improvise. For the past decade, he’s been working with jazz piano players, revealing astonishing new data about the way the brain creates art. And his research has recently […]
