Musicians in their own words

Yo-Yo Ma plucks his cello with a hotel room key ... Cecilia Bartoli remembers her past life as a flamenco dancer ... Cyro Baptista takes us to his percussion garage, scats a samba rhythm, and swings a vacuum-cleaner hose over his head.

Moments of surprise, moments of insight — that's the idea behind Musicians in their own words.

It's the public radio project that brings listeners inside the creative lives of lyric sopranos, bassists, congueros, concert violinists, and more ...

The project, launched with CPB support, has created dozens of pieces for the NPR newsmagazines and other national broadcasters, including APM's The Story, PRI, and Hearing Voices. Many pieces also are designed specifically for station use, and work especially well in a station context when used to preview a local performance.