A friend passed on to me a must-listen Fresh Air interview with Jason Hamacher, an American punk drummer who went to Syria just before the war to record ancient Sufi and Christian liturgical music.

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and charm and joy to life and to everything.” —Plato With music’s transcendent power, language does ...

From outside the doors of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the baritone voice of John Michael Boyer can be heard. Inside the church, Boyer is standing just to the right of the church’s icon ...