The Kennedy Center has announced the creation of The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards, to be presented annually on the composer's birthday to select teachers in appreciation for their contributions to their field. Sondheim was recently featured in the Daily Telegraph, which finds that the man "who revolutionised the musical with hits such as Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music, has lost none of his edge."

Congratulations to David Simon, the creator of The Wire (to which Nonesuch released the soundtrack) and Treme, who was named a MacArthur Fellow for 2010. The Fellows, selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future, receive $500,000 each in “no strings attached” support over the next five years. MacArthur Fellowships, often referred to as "Genius" grants, offer Fellows unprecedented freedom and opportunity to reflect, create, and explore. Dawn Upshaw was named a Fellow in 2007.

Ben Folds and Nick Hornby will co-headline "Liner Notes," an event at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York City on Tuesday, October 12 to explore the cross-pollination of music and literature while raising funds for Housing Works, a New York-based HIV/AIDS service organization. Presented by SPIN and moderated by the magazine’s deputy editor, Steve Kandell, the event will be broadcast SIRIUS XM radio in November.

The Ben Folds / Nick Hornby album Lonely Avenue is out tomorrow. "The collaboration clicks," say the Associated Press/ABC News. "There's a depth to the lyrics rare in pop songs, and they inspire top-notch work from the ever-inventive Folds." Reuters suggests one reason the partnership makes sense: "Hornby and Folds have long steered away from their usual comfort zones and explored different forms of pop culture expression." Canada's National Post calls it "an inventive success."

Tune in to The Strand on the BBC World Service tonight to hear Ben Folds and Nick Hornby discuss their forthcoming album, Lonely Avenue. The Independent gives Lonely Avenue four stars, saying it "proves to be an intelligent, sometimes amusing, sometimes moving, but always engaging collection of songs, pitched somewhere between Randy Newman and an Anglo-American Divine Comedy." The Daily Express calls it "heavenly."

Fenway Bergamot, Laurie Anderson's male alter ego, is featured both in Delusion, her new theater piece, now at BAM, and on her latest Nonesuch release, Homeland.  Now Fenway is looking to branch out still further: to your home answering machine or voicemail. For your chance to win, let us know why you think your voicemail would make the perfect next stop for Fenway.

Philip Selway and Cheikh Lô are among the many musicians from around the world who have lent their talents to a new video from Sudan365, a global campaign calling for a peaceful future for Sudan. The video, part of its Beat for Peace effort, comes as world leaders meet at the UN to discuss the future of Sudan. The video also features the drummers of Coldplay, the Police, and Pink Floyd, as well as Angelique Kidjo, Hugh Masakaela, and others.

There are just days to go before the release of Ben Folds and Nick Hornby's album collaboration, Lonely Avenue, this Tuesday, September 28. But wait no further to hear the album the BBC described as "affecting and intelligent" and Monacle has called "this year's singer-songwriter classic": Lonely Avenue is now streaming in its entirety in a MySpace exclusive premiere. Head to myspace.com/benfolds to listen now.

Punch Brothers kick off their fall tour tonight at the Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Tour highlights include performing with T Bone Burnett at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass; two shows with Burnett's The Speaking Clock Revue; a show in Los Angeles with support from Jon Brion; and opening slots with Dierks Bentley and Dave Matthews Band. The band will perform with Steve Martin on The Late Show with David Letterman in November.

Carolina Chocolate Drops and The Low Anthem will tour together for six dates over one week this December. The tour will begin December 4 at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, followed by stops in Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee, before heading to the Drops' home state of North Carolina for shows in Asheville, Charlotte, and Raleigh. Ticket pre-sales for Chocolate Drops fans begin on Tuesday.

This fall, Ben Folds will participate in the National Geographic Live series Music on ... Photography at the National Geographic Society's Washington, DC, headquarters. Folds will discuss photos he took of the flooded streets of Nashville with his camera (and camera phone) to help spread the word of the devastation; photographer Mark Seliger will moderate. Also participating in the series are Neko Case, Andy Summers, and music photographer Danny Clinch.

Tonight marks the New York premiere of Laurie Anderson's Delusion at BAM's Harvey Theatre, launching BAM's Next Wave Festival. Time Out New York includes the concert among today's "must-see shows." The Wall Street Journal previews the festival with a look at Anderson's long history with BAM, having, over the years, "given audiences something profoundly rewarding: an ongoing emotional engagement that, like a good friendship, allows you to think about life from different perspectives."