Composer John Adams, in two new videos from his publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, talks about his early experiences with music and finding his voice as a composer. In the first video, he shares some childhood experiences that led him to want to become a composer. In the second, he recounts a crisis of musical identity he went through in his 20s and 30s and how he found his own musical language, informed by the minimalist pioneers, jazz, Stravinsky, and others.

Brad Mehldau has shared videos of him performing and discussing "Golden Slumbers" from his new album, Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles, at New York’s Village Vanguard. You can watch both here. It's the third and final in a series of such videos from the album, following the title track performance and discussion and his "I Am the Walrus" performance and discussion. “'Golden Slumbers,’ certainly ‘Hey Jude,’ ‘Let It Be’ are songs that, for me, feel like ... something church like. Maybe it has something to do with the cadences that are in there. They’re just so righteous,” Mehldau says. “For me, it has a healing quality.”

Brad Mehldau's Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles is out now on Nonesuch. The live solo album features the pianist and composer’s interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. Although other Beatles songs have long been staples of Mehldau’s solo and trio shows, he had not previously recorded any of these tunes. The album, recorded in September 2020 at Philharmonie de Paris, ends with a David Bowie classic that draws a connection between The Beatles and pop songwriters who followed. "A great improvising pianist takes on The Beatles," says Mojo in its four-star review. "An inspired set that reveals new ways of hearing pop classics."

Laurie Anderson performs with John Zorn and Mary Halvorson with Marc Ribot in A Concert for Ukraine at The New School in NYC to benefit Razom. Timo Andres celebrates Philip Glass' birthday in Santa Monica. Jeremy Denk gives a sold-out solo recital at Hertz Hall in Berkeley. Kronos Quartet performs in Iowa City. Mandy Patinkin is in Tarrytown. Caroline Shaw sings at Merkin Hall in NYC. Cécile McLorin Salvant tours Texas.

Rachael & Vilray—the duo of singer/songwriter Rachael Price (Lake Street Dive) and guitarist/singer/songwriter Vilray—have unveiled a video for “Any Little Time,” a song from their new album, I Love a Love Song!, that features Vilray on vocals. You can watch the video, filmed in the studio in Los Angeles and directed by Jacob Blumberg, here.

"Brad Mehldau is one of the most influential and acclaimed jazz pianists living today," Sam Briger, producer of NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, says of his guest on the show. From the piano at WNYC Studios in New York City, Mehldau talks with Briger about his upcoming live solo album, Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles, out this Friday, and performs several musical examples during their conversation. They also discuss Mehldau's new memoir, Formation, due in March from Equinox Publishing. You can hear it here.

Rhiannon Giddens is on Speaking Soundly, a podcast in which host and MET Opera Principal Trumpet David Krauss talks with fellow performers about their creative process and lives as artists. “In addition to being expert in the music, you’re steeping in the history behind the music,” Krauss says. “And then you compose a song to capture that history and use it as a lens to focus in on what’s really happening in our society today. That’s a lot.” You can hear their conversation here.

Molly Tuttle was on NPR's All Things Considered as part of its series on first-time Grammy Award nominees. Tuttle is nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and, with her band Golden Highway, Best Bluegrass Album for their debut album, Crooked Tree. She talks with host Ailsa Chang from the famed Station Inn in Nashville and performs the title track to the album. You can hear it here.

Thomas Adès’ Dante—a ballet score in three acts based on Dante Alighieri’s La Divina Commedia—was recorded by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel in concert at Disney Hall for the premiere recording, due April 21 on Nonesuch Records. Dante was first performed at the Royal Opera House as part of Wayne McGregor’s The Dante Project for the Royal Ballet, with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and with designs by visual artist Tacita Dean. “In any new shortlist of great ballet scores by Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Bartók, Ravel, Prokofiev, Britten, and Bernstein, Dante must newly be included for its musical invention alone,” exclaims the Los Angeles Times. “There is not a second in its 88 minutes that doesn’t delight. All of it is unexpected and wanted.” The collectable limited vinyl two-LP edition includes artwork by Dean and photography from the Royal Ballet’s performance.

Makaya McCraven was on NPR's World Cafe to talk with host Raina Douris about his new album, In These Times, and share two tracks from it—the title track and "The Calling"—performed live at his 2020 debut concert at Chicago's Symphony Center. You can hear their conversation and the performances here.

Yo-Yo Ma has partnered with Knoxville-based arts nonprofit Big Ears for the multi-faceted concert “Our Common Nature: An Appalachian Celebration,” with musical guests Rhiannon Giddens, Chris Thile, and Edgar Meyer, on Friday, May 26, at World’s Fair Park in Knoxville, TN. In addition, Thile and Giddens will each perform a concert, May 25 and May 27, respectively, at Knoxville's Bijou Theatre. Conceived and curated by Ma, the World’s Fair Park celebration will include musicians, storytellers, and poets from throughout the Appalachian region, and will be the culmination of a week-long series of cultural experiences and conversations that lift the myriad voices of Appalachia—Indigenous, European, Latinx, Black, and beyond.

Rachael & Vilray are on The Vinyl District’s Radar podcast to discuss their new album, I Love a Love Song!. “There is an intrinsic grandeur to the Great American Songbook that we can all appreciate,” says host Evan Toth. “However, the Great American Songbook must always be accepting new entries and if we had to suggest some additions from our time, from this year, Rachael and Vilray should be at the top of our list.” You can hear their conversation here.