Natalie Merchant, whose Nonesuch debut album, Leave Your Sleep, is due out on April 13, will perform songs from the album at the PEN World Voices Festival's PEN Cabaret at New York City's (Le) Poisson Rouge on May 1. This year's PEN Cabaret will also include appearances by Booker Prize winner Ben Okri, Chilean story master Ariel Dorfman, and Georgian writer and performance artist Irakli Kakabadze. The PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature takes place April 26 through May 2.

Charlie Gillett, the BBC Radio 3 and BBC World Service presenter, has died, after a long illness, at the age of 68. Gillett was an ardent and longtime champion of many Nonesuch artists, helping to bring world music performers like Youssou N'Dour and Rokia Traoré to a wider audience. Traoré will appear on the BBC World Service program The Strand tonight to remember Gillett and reflect on his legacy.

"Please Don't," the first of six videos from the David Byrne / Fatboy Slim album Here Lies Love, is now on view at nonesuch.com/media. The track features vocals by Santigold, one of the many artists to contribute vocals to the album, which explores the life of former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos and her rise to power. "Please Don't" documents Marcos's use of "handbag diplomacy" with world leaders to promote Philippine interests abroad.

John Adams led the London Symphony Orchestra in the French premiere of his new piece, City Noir, Tuesday night at Salle Playel in Paris, part of the Domain privé John Adams series. Adams and the LSO had recently given the European premiere at London's Barbican Hall, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Performance on 3 last night, now available online. The BBC called it "one of the season's most eagerly awaited concerts."

Brad Mehldau's latest Nonesuch album, Highway Rider, has been released to critical acclaim. The pianist/composer and his album are the subject of an extensive profile on NPR's All Things Considered. Jon Brion, the album's producer, says of Mehldau, "I just like the fact that he keeps changing it up, and I think that this is just another example of that." Saxophonist Joshua Redman explains: "He has the best groove on the planet."

The 2010 South by Southwest Music and Media Conference (SXSW) gets under way in Austin, Texas, today, with several performances by Nonesuch artists slated during the festival's run through the weekend from The Low Anthem, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Christina Courtin, who kicks things off with a set at St. David's Sanctuary tonight. Also at SXSW this week are world premiere screenings of The Magnetic Fields documentary Strange Powers and the David Byrne tour film Ride, Rise, Roar.

Brad Mehldau's latest Nonesuch album, Highway Rider, is out now. The album "might be his most fully realized work yet," exclaims the Los Angeles Times in a perfect four-star review. "Full of unexpected twists and lush, evocative detours, Highway Rider is most definitely a trip, and one well worth taking." The Hartford Courtant calls it "triumphant." The BBC sees it as "a work that stretches the artist’s conceptual scope without stifling his essence."

Here Lies Love, David Byrne's musical collaboration with Fatboy Slim on the life of Imelda Marcos, is due out from Todomundo and Nonesuch Records in just three weeks and is currently available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store. The song cycle features a who's who of guest vocalists like Santigold; the video for her track, "Please Don't," is now on Boing Boing. Ride, Rise, Roar, a documentary look at Byrne's 2008-09 tour, premiered yesterday at SXSW.

Bill Frisell has won the award for Best International Guitar Player at the inaugural ECHO Jazz Awards. The award is being given for Frisell's latest Nonesuch release, Disfarmer. The ECHO gala awards ceremony will take place in Centennial Hall in Bochum, Germany, on May 5, and will be broadcast on German television on May 8.

John Adams led the LSO in the European premiere of his City Noir at London's Barbican Hall last week, to which the Times (UK) gives four stars and calls "brilliant." Adams and the LSO bring to Salle Pleyel in Paris to launch Domain privé John Adams, an 11-day celebration of the composer's music there and at Cité de la musique, with six concerts, three premieres, and a forum with the composer. The Vancouver Sun describes last weekend's Canadian premiere of Adams's Nixon in China as “brilliantly effective.”

Brad Mehldau's latest album, Highway Rider, is out now. The New York Times examines this "impressive" album and the pairing of Mehldau and producer Jon Brion. Given the success of their previous project, Largo, says the Times, this brings with it "a certain expectation, one that Highway Rider meets more than halfway." The Financial Times says: "Mehldau, with his trust in his own experience, came through in spades, pulling his musical influences into orchestrated coherence, and communicating the fun he had in doing it." The Times (UK) gives four stars to this "inspired set."

Stephen Sondheim celebrates his 80th birthday next Monday, March 22. The New York Philharmonic celebrates with two sold-out concerts at Lincoln Center tonight and tomorrow night, hosted by David Hyde Pierce and starring Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, Michael Cerveris, Patti LuPone, Victoria Clark, Bernadette Peters, Elaine Stritch, and many others. Sondheim's A Little Night Music, due out April 6, is available for pre-order now from the Nonesuch Store.