Rhiannon Giddens will receive the inaugural Legacy of Americana Award from the National Museum of African American Music and the Americana Music Association, as will posthumous recipient Francis "Frank" Johnson, a pioneering American composer from the Antebellum era. The award will be presented during the Americana Honors & Awards at the Ryman in Nashville on September 11. Rhiannon Giddens will also speak on a panel with writer John Jeremiah Sullivan—whose article on Giddens, Johnson, and the legacy of black string band music was published in The New Yorker earlier this year—on the closing day of AmericanaFest's music industry conference in Nashville, September 13.

Rhiannon Giddens was on WBUR's On Point to discuss her new album, there is no Other, and the cultural origins of music. "With her most recent record, Giddens wildly expands the scope of her musical excavations," says host Meghna Chakrabarti. "In it, Giddens show us how a chord or a drumbeat contains histories of Africa, Arabic influences, European additions, and the mix that became American music."

Rhiannon Giddens was a guest on The Today Show on NBC this morning. She discussed her new album, there is no Other, and performed the album track "I'm on My Way" with multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, who performs on the album, and bassist Jason Sypher, who joins them on tour. Watch the interview and performance here.

The Rhiannon Giddens–hosted podcast series Aria Code, presented by The Metropolitan Opera and WQXR, has returned with a special episode. It's focused on the aria "The Trees on the Mountain," from Carlisle Floyd's opera Susannah, which Giddens performs on her new album, there is no Other. She is joined by soprano Renée Fleming, writer/director Thomas Holliday, and feminist writer Leora Tanenbaum. You can hear the episode, including Fleming’s 1999 performance of the aria and Giddens's own from the new album, here.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi were on NPR's World Cafe to perform from the new album there is no Other and talk with host Talia Schlanger. It's "a fascinating collaboration," says Schlanger. "Both Rhiannon and Francesco are devoted students of music history whose mission is to use the past to illuminate the present and to give credit where credit’s due for the way instruments and ideas have moved over time between people. They used all that knowledge to make gorgeous music together on a new album called there is no Other." Hear the episode here.

A new full-length opera by Rhiannon Giddens will receive its world premiere at the 2020 Spoleto Festival in Charleston, then travel to Carolina Performing Arts in Chapel Hill, NC. The opera traces the spiritual journey of Omar Ibn Said, from his life in West Africa to his capture and enslavement in the Carolinas in 1807. Giddens says: "My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard, but that can also add to the conversation about what's going on now. This is a story that hasn't been represented in the operatic world—or in any world."

The SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco has announced its 2019–20 concert season, and among the performers taking the Miner Auditorium stage are several Nonesuch artists: Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Rhiannon Giddens, Kronos Quartet, and Laurie Anderson, who is an SFJAZZ Resident Artist Director for the season.

Rhiannon Giddens, who begins her four-night residency with the Boston Pops titled Redefining American Music tonight, stopped by Boston's Museum of Fine Arts to perform a few tunes in the museum's Musical Instruments Gallery. She takes a look at the MFA's historical banjo collection and plays one of the banjos and sings, with Carolina Chocolate Drops' Hubby Jenkins on bones and Jason Sypher on bass. You can watch it here.

Rhiannon Giddens has shared a series of interview videos made by director Laura Sheeran while Giddens recorded her new album, there is no Other, in Dublin. Giddens, multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, producer Joe Henry, and engineer Ryan Freeland discuss how they all came together to make the album; how Giddens's artistry has evolved since Henry worked with her and the Carolina Chocolate Drops; and how they created a varied palette of sound with the many instruments heard on there is no Other. You can watch all three videos here.

Congratulations to Yola, Rhiannon Giddens, and Punch Brothers guitarist Chris Eldridge on their Americana Honors & Awards nominations. Yola has been nominated as Emerging Act of the Year, and her Dan Auerbach-produced debut album, Walk Through Fire, has been nominated for Album of the Year. Rhiannon Giddens has been nominated for Artist of the Year, and her group Our Native Daughters has been nominated for Duo/Group of the Year. Chris "Critter" Eldridge has been nominated as Instrumentalist of the Year. Winners will be announced during the Americana Honors & Awards at the Ryman Auditorium in September.

The lineup for the 2019 Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival has been announced, and featuring among the performers taking the stage of the Damrosch Park Bandshell for the free series this summer are Rhiannon Giddens and Yola. Rhiannon Giddens will take part in NPR Music’s multi-artist Turning the Tables Live: The Motherlode on Wednesday, July 31, and Yola will help close out the season in The Roots of American Music Weekend: Americanafest NYC, performing on Saturday, August 10, ahead of Patty Griffin.

Rhiannon Giddens is a guest on the latest episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour. She and multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi talk with New Yorker editor David Remnick about their new album, there is no Other, and perform songs from it live. You can hear the conversation and performance here.