Congratulations to Julia Bullock and Steve Reich, who have each won an Opus Klassik award in Germany for their 2022 Nonesuch albums: Bullock as Breakout Artist of the Year for her debut solo album, Walking in the Dark, and Reich in the Symphonic Recording of the Year category for Runner / Music for Ensemble and Orchestra, performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Susanna Mälkki. The awards ceremony will take place at the Konzerthaus in Berlin on October 8, televised in Germany by ZDF.

Natalie Merchant is the guest on the latest episode of the Song Exploder podcast. She talks with host Hrishikesh Hirway about "Sister Tilly," breaking down the song from her new album, Keep Your Courage. The song was arranged by Gabriel Kahane. You can hear what Merchant had to say here.

"This was the first song we recorded together in the studio, and it was the one that set the tone for the rest of the week," Rhiannon Giddens says of "You Louisiana Man," a newly released song from her upcoming album, You're the One. "Like kids on the first day of school, we were feeling out everyone in the room musically, and in that moment it all clicked.” You can watch the video, filmed in the studio while the album was being recorded, here. Giddens has announced a European tour for February 2024 following her previously announced US tour.

Natalie Merchant stopped by ABC's Good Morning America to perform "Come On, Aphrodite" and "Tower of Babel" from her new album, Keep Your Courage. She was joined by Abena Koomson-Davis of Resistance Revival Chorus, who also performs on the album. You can watch both performances here.

Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Yussef Dayes has released the video for his new single, “Rust,” featuring longtime collaborator and friend Tom Misch, from his upcoming debut solo album, Black Classical Music, due September 8. You can watch the animated video, directed by Jack Brown, here.

The music manuscripts and papers of composer and conductor John Adams have been acquired by the Library of Congress. “The Library of Congress could scarcely conjure a contemporary music collection that carries with it as much recognition and consequence as the manuscripts and papers of John Adams,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “We are proud to count the collection of Adams’ materials among our prized music treasures.” “To have my archives under the care and preservation of the Library of Congress is a great privilege,” said Adams. “Over the years I have visited the Music Division, met their brilliant staff and had the special chance to hold in my hands manuscripts by among others, Brahms, Schoenberg, Bernstein, and Charlie Parker. As an American composer—especially with a name like mine—it seems only right that my own work should be with this great institution.”

Brad Mehldau’s acclaimed 2002 Jon Brion–produced album Largo, which turned 20 last year, receives its first-ever vinyl release, on Nonesuch Records today. Mehldau experiments with electronic instrumentation on this set of original and borrowed tunes, including Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” and The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” and "Mother Nature's Son." "Gorgeous and brilliant,” raved the Boston Globe. “Mehldau has crafted a new-jazz soundscape that bursts with pop smarts." You can take a quick look inside the 2-LP set in an unboxing video here.

This festival-filled weekend, Emmylou Harris, Chris Thile, Punch Brothers, and Nickel Creek return to Telluride Bluegrass Festival for its 50th. Makaya McCraven plays Bonnaroo. Molly Tuttle continues a childhood tradition at the Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley, CA, with her band Golden Highway. The Black Keys are at Pinkpop in the Netherlands and in Paris with guests Spoon. Sam Amidon plays Solas Festival in Scotland. Caroline Shaw is at Louth Contemporary Music Society Festival in Ireland. Laurie Anderson concludes her European tour in Gothenburg, Oslo, and Berlin. Performances of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's Here Lies Love begin on Broadway.

Vagabon, aka Lætitia Tamko, will release her new album, Sorry I Haven’t Called, September 15. She reinvents herself once again with the most playful and adventurous music of her career. Co-produced by Tamko and Rostam (Vampire Weekend, Haim), the album features twelve vibrant tracks she wrote and produced primarily in Germany that channel dance music and effervescent pop through her own confident sensibilities. “This record feels like what I've been working towards,” Tamko says. “It's completely euphoric.” You can watch the video for the new track "Can I Talk My Shit?" here and catch Vagabon on tour this fall.

Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway have released the official music video for "Next Rodeo," a recently released song from their upcoming album, City of Gold, due July 21. You can watch the video, directed by Edgar Evan and starring Tuttle and the band—fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, mandolinist Dominick Leslie, bass player Shelby Means, and banjo player Kyle Tuttle—as well as special guest actors Seth Clarke and Morgan Watkins, here.

The inaugural season of the new PBS series My Music with Rhiannon Giddens—in which Giddens celebrates the United States’ rich and varied musical traditions and its modern offshoots by hosting musical performances and conversations with guest artists filmed on location around the South—concludes this week with her own partner and collaborator, Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, and her longtime bassist, Jason Sypher. In the episode, Giddens and Turrisi look back at their meeting, the discovery of their musical affinities, and their shared vision of musical heritage that crosses borders. You can watch it here.

Natalie Merchant was on NPR's World Cafe to talk with host Kallao about her new album, Keep Your Courage, and give intimate performances of four songs from it: "Come On, Aphrodite," "Narcissus," "Big Girls," and "Tower of Babel." "It's a beautiful record that revolves around love in its many forms," says Kallao. "She calls it like she sees it, and that's a guest you feel lucky to speak with. And I think you'll dig hearing it." You can do that here.