Kronos Quartet has announced its eighth-annual Kronos Festival, to take place at SFJAZZ Center, June 22–24, 2023. This year's festival celebrates works created for Kronos Fifty for the Future, a commissioning, performance, education, and legacy project. Featuring pieces by Rhiannon Giddens, Philip Glass, Zakir Hussain, Angélique Kidjo, Terry Riley, Wu Man, and more, the festival is hosted by Kronos in multiple performances over three days; the group is joined by Aizuri Quartet, Attacca Quartet, and Friction Quartet plus special guests Rafiq Bhatia (guitar), Soo Yeon Lyuh (haegeum), sound artist and instrument-maker Victoria Shen, and student ensembles from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Congratulations to composer Thomas Adès, who has been awarded the Premio Fronteras del Conocimiento (Frontiers of Knowledge Award) in Music and Opera by the Fundación BBVA in Spain for "the extraordinary international reach of his work, which makes him one of the most acclaimed musicians of our time." The award, which includes 400,000 euros in each of its eight categories, aims to celebrate and promote the value of knowledge as a public good without borders. The premiere recording of Adès's Dante, performed by LA Phil and Gustavo Dudamel, is due April 21.

Natalie Merchant has released "Tower of Babel," a new song from her upcoming album, Keep Your Courage, due April 14 on Nonesuch. You can watch a video for the song, the second from the album to be directed by Matthew Shattuck, here. Nonesuch Store Keep Your Courage pre-orders before Monday, April 3, include access to an exclusive virtual pre-release listening event next Thursday, April 6, via FlyMachine featuring songs from the new album and a conversation between Natalie Merchant and Carmel Holt.

Tigran Hamasyan performed for ARTE’s Piano Day Concert in celebration of the international day honoring the instrument. For this solo recital, filmed in Opéra Comique’s Salle Bizet in Paris on March 8, Hamasyan performs songs from throughout his repertoire, including his 2017 album, An Ancient Observer, and his 2018 EP, For Gyumri. You can watch it here.

Emmylou Harris’s second Nonesuch album, Stumble Into Grace, was released on September 23, 2003. Ahead of its twentieth anniversary, Nonesuch will release the album on vinyl for the first time, in a limited cream-colored vinyl edition, on May 12. It is available to pre-order here. On this, her second consecutive album of original material, following her Nonesuch debut album, Red Dirt Girl, Harris is joined by guests like Linda Ronstadt, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Gillian Welch, Jane Siberry, Buddy Miller, Daniel Lanois, and Malcolm Burn, who produced the record.

“When Natalie Merchant was fifteen, a year before she began her music career in the band 10,000 Maniacs, she put a picture of a statue of Joan of Arc up on her wall,” BBC Radio 4 Front Row presenter Samira Ahmed says of her guest. “The image adorns the cover of her new album, Keep Your Courage, a celebration of women in myth and history, ancient and modern, and a celebration of love of all kinds—familial, platonic, and romantic.” You can hear their conversation about the album and more here.

Apple Music Classical—a new stand-alone app for Apple Music subscribers—launched this week, to easily find classical recordings all in one place with fully optimized search. That includes classic Nonesuch recordings and recent releases by John Adams, Timo Andres, Louis Andriessen, Julia Bullock, Jeremy Denk, Gidon Kremer, Kronos Quartet, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Nico Muhly, Richard Goode, Henryk Górecki, Jonny Greenwood, Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Dawn Upshaw, and more. Apple Music Classical is available on the App Store and is included at no extra cost with nearly all Apple Music subscriptions. 

“One of the most majestic and stunning singers on the current scene,” TSF Jazz host Jean-Charles Doukhan says of Cécile McLorin Salvant, his guest on Deli Express, in translation from the French. “Each of her albums is a masterstroke. And each of her concerts is a powerful and unforgettable experience.” Of her new album, Mélusine, he exclaims: “As always, brilliant!” You can watch Salvant’s performance of the album track “Le temps est assassin” in the TSF Jazz studio with Glenn Zaleski on piano and Keita Ogawa on percussion here.

Cécile McLorin Salvant's album Mélusine is a mix of originals and interpretations of songs dating as far back as the 12th century, mostly sung in French along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl. They tell the folk tale of Mélusine, a woman who turns into a half-snake each Saturday after a childhood curse by her mother. She has shared a new live performance video of the album track "Doudou," which you can watch here. "Anyone who thinks they already know the full extent of Cécile McLorin Salvant's artistry should listen to Mélusine without further delay," exclaims Jazzwise. "It's a remarkable recording in several respects. Beautifully recorded, Salvant continues to confound and delight at every turn."

Steve Reich was on CBC's Q to talk with host Tom Power about his early musical influences, like Igor Stravinsky, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis; his own seminal works Clapping Music, Come Out, Drumming, Different Trains, and Music for 18 Musicians; and a new generation of composers exciting him now, including Caroline Shaw and Nico Muhly. You can hear their conversation here.

“It was thrilling to talk to her,” Marc Maron says of Laurie Anderson, his guest on the latest episode of WTF with Marc Maron. “Laurie Anderson had a profound impact on my life. Just hearing her in my headset while I talked to her was kind of mind-blowing.” They talk, among other things, about life in 1970s New York with fellow artists like Philip Glass, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Spalding Gray; playing straight man to Andy Kaufman; and a new book she helped edit of Lou Reed’s writing on tai chi. You can hear their conversation here.

Natalie Merchant has released the video for “Come On, Aphrodite,” the new single, featuring singer Abena Koomson-Davis of Resistance Revival Chorus, from Merchant's upcoming album, Keep Your Courage, due April 14. You can watch the video, directed by Matthew Shattuck in Brooklyn, here. Merchant will tour the US this spring and autumn and has just announced a November tour of Europe, with shows in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin, Bath, Amsterdam, and Brussels.