As part of Nonesuch Records's 60th anniversary celebrations, the 2024 Big Ears Festival lineup includes fifteen Nonesuch artists past, present, and future. Ahead of the festival, taking place in Knoxville, TN, March 21–24, we've got a playlist of music from all of those artists: Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Tyondai Braxton, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Ringdown (Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee), Davóne Tines, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, and Yasmin Williams. You can hear it here via Spotify and Apple Music.

The line-up for the 2024 Big Ears Festival—taking place in downtown Knoxville, TN, March 21–24—has been announced, including more than a dozen Nonesuch artists past, present, and future, in celebration of the label’s 60th anniversary in 2024: Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Tyondai Braxton, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Brad Mehldau, Ringdown (Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee), Davóne Tines, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, and Yasmin Williams.

The first studio recording of Tyondai Braxton's Telekinesis—an eighty-seven-piece work for electric guitars, orchestra, choir and electronics—is out now on New Amsterdam / Nonesuch Records. The album features the Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Dianne Berkun Menaker, and chamber choir The Crossing conducted by Donald Nally performing what the Guardian calls "a superpower-themed symphony … a titanic composition." Braxton cites the Japanese manga classic Akira as a thematic guide, with its story of a young boy's discovery of his telekinetic powers and his inability to control it, leading to his own destruction. The Times exclaims: "It's remarkable."

Tyondai Braxton has shared a preview video of the first studio recording of Telekinesis—an eighty-seven-piece work for electric guitars, orchestra, choir and electronics—due November 11 on New Amsterdam / Nonesuch Records. The album features the Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Dianne Berkun Menaker, and chamber choir The Crossing conducted by Donald Nally.

The first studio recording of Tyondai Braxton's Telekinesis—an eighty-seven-piece work for electric guitars, orchestra, choir and electronics—is due November 11 on New Amsterdam / Nonesuch Records. The album features the Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Dianne Berkun Menaker, and chamber choir The Crossing conducted by Donald Nally performing what the Guardian calls "a superpower-themed symphony … a titanic composition." Braxton cites the Japanese manga classic Akira as a thematic guide, with its story of a young boy's discovery of his telekinetic powers and his inability to control it, leading to his own destruction.

Congratulations to Tyondai Braxton, who has been named to the faculty of the Department of Music at Princeton University. As Assistant Professor, he will be teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses beginning this fall. Braxton is joining the composition faculty, which includes Professor of Music Donnacha Dennehy. Among the other artists in Princeton’s Department of Music who have recorded on Nonesuch are Ensemble in Residence Sō Percussion, Director of Choral Activities Gabriel Crouch, and Global Scholar: Irish Studies & Music Department Iarla Ó Lionáird. 

Tyondai Braxton releases “Multiplay” on Nonesuch Records today. The new track features Braxton on electronics, and was recorded in his home studio in Bearsville, NY. Following last month’s release of “Dia" / "Phonolydian”—Braxton’s first new music in five years—“Multiplay” is the next in a series of new releases to continue through the year. The first performance of a three-show residency entitled Multiplay, at Public Records in Brooklyn, scheduled for January 12, has been postponed until May 4 and will feature a duo set between Braxton and Cibo Matto founder Yuka C. Honda. The other two shows are scheduled to take place as planned.

Tyondai Braxton releases “Dia" / "Phonolydian”—his first new music in five years—on Nonesuch Records today. The two new tracks feature Braxton on electronics and were recorded in his home studio in Bearsville, New York. They mark the beginning in a series of new releases to continue through the new year. Braxton also announces Multiplay, a three-show residency at Public Records in Brooklyn comprising solo sets with special guests Leila Bordreuil and Lea Bertucci & Ben Vida in January and February, respectively, and a duo set with Greg Fox in March. 

While we can't go out to take in great live music, here are some events taking place online to enjoy while staying home this weekend: Yola performs in Jack Daniel's Crash the Couch livestream festival to benefit the Sweet Relief Fund tonight, Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi perform in the online Philadelphia Folk Festival on Saturday, Jeremy Denk and Tyondai Braxton each take part in the Bang on a Can Marathon on Sunday, and Rachael & Vilray's July concert at Black Birch Vineyard gets its streaming premiere on Sunday.

Tyondai Braxton will lead a five-city tour of the United Kingdom starting next week on a double bill with Brooklyn-based trio Dawn of Midi. The tour begins with a special set before Daniel Lanois at Koko in London as part of the Convergence Festival on Wednesday, March 22. Braxton and Dawn of Midi then head to Leeds, Brighton, Reading, and Manchester for their own shows.

Tyondai Braxton has released a new five-song EP, Oranged Out, via Bandcamp, proceeds from which will support the work of Everytown for Gun Safety. A video for the title track, by Grace Villamil, may be seen here. Braxton will mark the release with a performance at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on July 22. He also has a number of European dates, with more to be announced. Oranged Out EP is a collection of tracks from or near the time Braxton was working on his Nonesuch debut album, HIVE1.

Tyondai Braxton performs HIVE, the work that inspired his Nonesuch Records debut album, HIVE1, for a three-night residency at The Kitchen in NYC this Thursday through Saturday, June 4–6. The New Yorker calls the album "a beguiling, introspective new record," noting that the tracks, "which are transfixing, are marked by fragmented percussion grooves that weave in and out of warm analogue soundscapes." HIVE debuted at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC in 2013, created as a live multimedia work that was part architectural installation, part ensemble performance with five musicians seated atop their own oval pods designed by Danish architect Uffe Surland Van Tams.