Music

Got an idea for a classical cartoon, or a reaction to this one? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist working with sculpture, drawing, photography and performance. You can see more of his work at Artworld Salon and on his own site.

• New York Philharmonic Music Director Emeritus Kurt Masur, 85, has announced that he has been living with Parkinson's disease for several years: "I have had the fortune of receiving great medical care since the diagnosis, enabling me to continue my conducting activities. These recent events have served as a good opportunity to make a return to the podium with a greater sense of purpose and awareness."

The words of the English poet William Blake still resonate 185 years after his death. Blake, who was also a painter and printmaker, wrote the famous lines, "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright / In the forests of the night."

Steve Brown and his band The Bailers make their first appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live on the campus of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. When Mountain Stage began planning its trip to Fairbanks in late 2011, host Larry Groce set out to find some of the state's most talented musicians to feature on the show, and one of the names that popped up repeatedly was Steve Brown & The Bailers.

(In this third and final part of a series, pianist Jonathan Biss explores the idea of musical longing in Robert Schumann's music. Click the audio link above to hear Biss play Schumann and discuss the composer with Performance Today host Fred Child.)

The bluegrass band Bearfoot returns to Mountain Stage, recorded live on the campus of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. This was one of Bearfoot's final appearances featuring its current lineup, as singer Nora Jane Struthers and bassist P.J. George are set to step away to promote an upcoming Struthers solo project.