Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra begin a rare, six-city US tour at the 92nd Street Y's Kaufmann Concert Hall in NYC tonight, followed by performances at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Stude Concert Hall in Houston, Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Harris Theater in Chicago, and Ordway Center in St. Paul. The tour program features works by Weinberg, Pärt, Britten, and Shostakovich, including his satiric comic opera Antiformal Rayok, with bass Alexei Mochalov.

Gidon Kremer organized a concert at Berlin's Philharmonic Hall on Monday, titled To Russia with Love, to honor slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and support human rights in Russia. Performers included Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Emanuel Pahud, and others, in a program of works Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky; the premiere of a new piece by Giya Kancheli; and more. You can watch the complete concert here, via Arte Live Web.

Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra's new album, The Art of Instrumentation: Homage to Glenn Gould, is "lovely and alluring," says NPR Music, with "fresh and intriguing makeovers of several Bach keyboard classics ... There are many moments in this album to make you smile, wonder and simply bask in the beauty of the music." Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica continue their tour of Asia with performances at Tokyo's Suntory Hall.

Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra kicked off their tour of Asia with a performance at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Monday night, followed by concerts in Korea (Seoul, Goyang, and Daejeon), China (Guangzhou and Shenzhen), and Japan (Nagoya, Kobe, Tokyo, and Kurume). Additionally, Kremer will perofrm with smaller chamber ensembles in Japan. The CBC calls the group's latest album, The Art of Instrumentation: Homage to Glenn Gould, "a haunting, highly personal homage from one great musician to another and a deeply affecting tribute to Gould's enduring genius."

The Art of Instrumentation: Homage to Glenn Gould, by violinist Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, is out today, September 25, 2012, which would have been Gould’s 80th birthday. The album comprises 11 pieces and arrangements by contemporary composers that quote from or are inspired by works, mostly by Bach, that Gould famously recorded during his career; two Arnold Schoenberg pieces also are drawn upon in one piece. Says the CBC: "The result is a haunting, highly personal homage from one great musician to another and a deeply affecting tribute to Gould's enduring genius."

Nonesuch Records releases The Art of Instrumentation: Homage to Glenn Gould, by violinist Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, on September 25, 2012, which would have been Gould’s 80th birthday. The album comprises 11 pieces and arrangements by contemporary composers that quote from or are inspired by works, mostly by Bach, that Gould famously recorded during his career; two Arnold Schoenberg pieces also are drawn upon in one piece. The album is available to pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store.

Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra closed out their tour of North America with performances at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York and Boston's Jordan Hall, featuring works from their latest Nonesuch release, De Profundis. The New York Times describes one such work as an "alluring, reflective piece." The Boston Globe says Kremer's performance "carries an electric charge precisely because the ear is almost always being led somewhere unexpected," and the Kremerata Baltica "play with great sensitivity."

Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica continue their North American tour with a sold-out show at the Newman Center in Denver, featuring works from their album De Profundis. The San Francisco Chronicle describes Sunday's show in Berkeley as "deeply satisfying" and Lera Auerbach's Sogno di Stabat Mater, off the album, as "fascinating. The San Jose Mercury News calls that piece "best of all" in this concert of "enchantment and mystery," the new album "superb ... dark and mesmerizing."

Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica launched their North American tour over the weekend. Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed calls their new album, De Profundis, "profound, pioneering," and says: "I can't think of another soloist before the public today who has Kremer's combination of depth and breadth—and technique." Time Out Chicago gives the album four stars, saying "Kremer’s ear and emotions are in perfect sync." The Denver Post says: "Like Kremer, the orchestra ... never fails to venture in unexpected directions, as its latest thematic album, De Profundis, makes clear." Seattle's Crosscut, reviewing the tour opener, says: "The concert crackled with the sense of inspired adventure that is their trademark."

Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica launch their North American tour in Seattle this Friday. Their latest Nonesuch release, De Profundis, was featured on NPR's All Things Considered Sunday, among select albums for the fall. The album "plays through like a fascinating mix tape, with a surprise around every corner," says NPR classical producer Tom Huizenga. "It's fantastic ... a very heady but very listenable and terrific mix of music and politics."

De Profundis, the new album from Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, receives five stars from Audiophile Audition. It's a program "of such sheer delight and exquisite beauty that I felt emotionally ravished when it was over," raves the reviewer. "One of the best collections of its kind that I have ever heard." The album is a Pick of the Week on WNYC's Soundcheck and CD of the Week from KBAQ, which says the music creates "a deep feeling of hope."

Today marks the release of De Profundis, the latest album from violinist Gidon Kremer, whom the Boston Globe calls "one of the most important violinists before the public today," and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra. Kremer is featured in the Globe's Fall Arts Preview of Classical Music, which looks at his unconventional career, from "rebel genius" to an artist who "has retained a refreshingly unconventional musical perspective."