NPR Music

Contributions by acoustic and electric bass to Celtic music are subtle, imaginative and, with players like Alain Genty, firmly in the foreground.

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The Irish sisters in Henry Girls make their first American appearance on this episode of Mountain Stage. From Inishowen in County Donegal, Ireland, Joleen, Lorna and Karen McLaughlin create a seamless mix of folk, bluegrass and traditional Irish music, framed by their chilling three-part harmonies.

The four-man vocal ensemble New York Polyphony sings ancient music built for big resonant spaces. Since they can't just pop into St. Patrick's Cathedral any time they need to practice a renaissance mass, the group rehearses sometimes in the Jackson Heights home of bass singer Craig Phillips. There, in a modest-sized living room, they can hear every detail. "It's a very different experience rehearsing in a dry room and a small room," says tenor Geoffrey Silver. "You actually hear what you and your colleagues are singing, there's no watercolor wash over what you are doing."

It's tough to concentrate on the rigors of Beethoven with jackhammers pounding in your ears. So when they started demolishing the building next to Jonathan Biss, he moved his piano out of his apartment into a separate studio, away from the commotion. "I would get up in the morning, the piano wasn't there, and I had to leave my apartment to go practice and I've decided that's a much more productive way of working," he says. Biss needs a good working environment for his massive project.