Just announced: Glenn Kotche will be opening for Andrew Bird, left, at New York's Beacon Theatre on Friday, November 30. Glenn will be performing the world premiere of his Anomaly with Kronos Quartet at the San Francisco Jazz Festival this Thursday, October 25.

Earlier this month, David Byrne joined Young @ Heart Chorus, a group of "gyrating geriatrics" (according to Time and the choir's own website), at their gig in NYC's Paris Bar. Byrne, by far the youngest person on stage (chorus members range in age from 72 to 88), joined in on the Talking Heads's "Heaven" and a new Byrne-penned tune, "One Fine Day." He reports on his blog that "the hipsters at the Paris Bar were completely won over, I think."

The LA Opera production of Brecht/Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, which starred Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone and ran through February 2007, will air December 17 as part of the Great Performances series on New York's PBS station Thirteen/WNET. It will be available on DVD the following day. The production was directed by John Doyle, who also helmed the recent Broadway revivals of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd (starring LuPone) and Company.

David Byrne will be among 140 artists contributing to The Seed Project, in which participants create works of art starting with a humble bag of grass seeds, in an effort to promote sustainability. The resulting works will be on display in New York City for five weeks, opening Thursday, October 25, at the Winkleman Gallery.

The unbeatable pairing of Broadway heavy hitters Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin—both Tony winners for their roles in the original Broadway production of Evita—is back for one week at Philadelphia's Prince Music Theater, October 23–29, in An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. The show, choreographed by fellow Broadway legend Ann Reinking, will include songs by Stephen Sondheim and Richard Rodgers among many others.

Lincoln Center has announced the 2008 season of its popular American Songbook series, with tickets on sale to the public Thursday, October 25. Highlights of the season include three nights with k.d. lang, February 26–28, and an evening with Punch Brothers on February 20. Also featured are two shows on January 26 with Broadway star Kelli O'Hara, who earned a Tony nomination for her performance in Adam Guettel's Light in the Piazza .

On October 20, at the seventh annual World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent, Belgium, composer Clint Mansell picked up two awards for his score to The Fountain, performed by Kronos Quartet and Mogwai. Mansell received both the award for the year's Best Original Soundtrack and the Public Choice Award. 

In a sprawling interview with pitchforkmedia.com, folk rocker Devendra Banhart talks about everything from colonial American history to making his new record using an authentic Nicolai Tesla–made microphone. Banhart, who appeared earlier this year at a David Byrne–curated concert at Carnegie Hall, also recalls what he says is the "best review" he's ever gotten; it was from Caetano Veloso.

Canada's CBC News reports that South African police have arrested five men linked to the shooting death last Thursday of reggae star Lucky Dube. Late last week, Youssou N'Dour urged South African leaders to use Dube's death as a wake-up call to address that nation's high incidence of violent crime.

In a recent conversation with gothamist.com, Jonny Greenwood discusses a wide range of topics, from the environmental impact of touring to his score for the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson film There Will Be Blood. The soundtrack is due out on Nonesuch this December.

The New York Times, in its list of must-sees on a short trip to São Paolo, Brazil, includes Bar Brahma, because "as everyone will tell you, this is where Caetano Veloso's soulful song 'Sampa' starts out. Legend has it that Caetano wrote the song from there." 

On Saturday, October 6, David Byrne presented “How New Yorkers Ride Bikes” at New York's Town Hall as part of the weekend-long New Yorker festival. Watch the video feed from his bike, complete with audio commentary, as he rode through the streets of midtown on his way to the event.