Actor Tom Hiddleston reminisces about his childhood love of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker and reveals that he still turns to the Russian Dance whenever he needs a shot of vitality in his day.

For the final episode in our opening season of The Open Ears Project, relationship therapist Esther Perel talks about the first time she heard Fauré’s Requiem as a young woman and how it seemed to “understand” an inexpressible sadness she was carrying inside her. She describes with great tenderness the way music connects her to her mother, a survivor of the Holocaust, and how this piece transports her to something akin to a religious experience. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Project Coordinator Krystal Hawes explores the perfect imperfection of Maurice Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Rapper Dessa discusses how the craft, structure and emotion of Bach's Chaconne in D minor resonates through her life and work, revealing dynamic connections between classical and rap music.

Actor Jesse Eisenberg talks about how a trip to Poland led him to discover not only more about his family history and the holocaust, but the music of Frédéric Chopin, in particular the Etude Opus 10, No. 1. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon gives moving insight into his long and inspiring journey with the music of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

TV producer Megan Reid talks about Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel helped spark a lifelong obsession with ballet. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Broadcaster Terrance McKnight links family, art, a late Beethoven piano bagatelle, and the extraordinary poetry of Langston Hughes.

New York City art teacher Justin Jackson talks about how Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King inspired him as a child to march around the living room, and how he shares that excitement with his young students as he passes on his love of creativity, imagination, and the arts. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

WNYC host Alison Stewart talks about how she gave up learning the piano when she was young after the sudden death of her piano teacher, and how the rocking ebbs and flows of Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1 helped her come back to the instrument as an adult — and learn to let go. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Architect Daniel Libeskind reflects on the healing power of music and architecture and reveals his lifelong obsession with the dazzling Toccata and Fugue by JS Bach.

Digital strategist Jacqui Cheng shares how she discovered the music of Bach via her 1980s Atari 2600 habit, but it’s the Violin Sonata No. 1 that helps walk her through a period of grief. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Jazz Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis discusses how Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 helped him understand the role of music — and musician — in connecting the past and the future. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Instagram’s Eva Chen talks about how Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 helps her switch between gears as she moves from a busy life in fashion to being a working mother to writing a successful series of children’s books. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Comedian and actor Eddie Izzard talks about how Debussy’s Clair de Lune became “comfort music” after her mother died when she was a child, and still elevates her from the noise and chaos of everyday life.

Opera singer J'Nai Bridges discusses what she learned about forgiveness, memory and legacy from Henry Purcell's heartbreaking Dido's Lament.

US Army reservist Joe Young talks about how Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians helped him through a period of deep depression when he was stationed in Texas and required to perform funeral rites for his fallen soldier colleagues.

Writer Robert Macfarlane reflects on the transporting fragility and beauty of Frédéric Chopin's Berceuse heard in a time of war. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Violinist Nicola Benedetti reveals what hearing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto as a child taught her about listening, empathy and vulnerability. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

WNYC's Lee Hill recalls how "Little's Theme" from Nicholas Britell's score to Moonlight resonates with his own life experience as a queer black man and helps him stand in his own truth.

Director Sam Mendes explains how Carl Orff’s Gassenhauer helped him establish the mood for his first film, American Beauty. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Comedienne Rachel Strauss-Muniz discusses sharing Mozart’s First Piano Sonata with her babies, and reflects on how their joy at hearing Mozart reminds her of how so much of the music we listen to is rooted in classical — and how music connects us all. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Bandleader Jon Batiste talks about how Mickey Mouse sold him on The Rite of Spring and gives a scintillating insight into Stravinsky’s mind. Keep listening after the episode to hear excerpts of the work.

Queer opera singer Jamie Barton talks about how Chopin's Nocturne No. 21 helped her to find her identity in a world in which she did not fit in. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Conductor Eric Jacobsen recalls losing his beloved mother at the age of 11 and how her favourite piece, Franz Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 inspired him to become a musician. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Novelist Ian McEwan remembers how Bach's Concerto for Two Violins helped him first to navigate selfhood as a teenager, and, later in life, the sorrow of losing his best friend.

Podcaster Aminatou Sow talks about how the cheerful defiance of Florence Price’s Juba Dance helped her through a life-changing moment. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić discusses his deep connection to the longing for home expressed in Francisco Tárrega’s Lágrima. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Yoga teacher Connie Viglietti tells us how she remembers her beloved Grandma Ginger by singing one of her favorite songs, Schubert’s “Ave Maria”, and contemplates the transporting power that music has to connect us to the people we love the most, even if they are no longer with us.

New York City firefighter Rob Vogt talks about how Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries helped him cope in the tragic aftermath of 9/11. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Actor Alec Baldwin talks about how Aram Khachaturian's Spartacus Adagio revives and energizes him during the busiest days of his life. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.

Which piece of music speaks to your soul? Each bite-sized episode of The Open Ears Project introduces you to a new classical work and offers a brief and soulful glimpse into a human life, helping us to listen to this music—and each other—differently.  The Open Ears Project is produced by WQXR and WNYC Studios. You can follow the project starting on day 1 by subscribing to our newsletter and following #OpenEarsProject on Instagram and Twitter.