Composer Peter Lieberson wrote Neruda Songs, a 2005 Grammy-winning piece based on Pablo Neruda’s poems, for his wife, the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson before the mezzo-soprano’s untimely passing. The Washington Post called it “one of the most extraordinarily affecting artistic gifts ever created by one lover to another.” His second cycle based on Neruda premiered in Boston this week.

The new Broadway cast recording of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music is due out next Tuesday, April 6. That same day, Sondheim and the cast, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angela Lansbury, and Alexander Hanson, will sign copies of the album at the Walter Kerr Theatre, from 2 to 3:30 PM.

Mark your calendars: The Black Keys are slated to perform on the Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday, May 25, one week after the release of their forthcoming Nonesuch album, Brothers. You can get an early listen to the album's lone Danger Mouse-produced track, "Tighten Up," on the band's MySpace page, which has just been given a timely face-lift to match the vibe of the album art.

The Low Anthem's West Coast tour will begin one day later than planned, at LA's Bootleg Theatre tomorrow. Now comes word that The Low Anthem will return to the Newport Folk Festival for the third year in a row, playing the main stage on July 31. Label mates Punch Brothers perform the next day. Discounted tickets are available through Friday. Chris Thile performs at the Savannah Music Festival tonight and will join up with Punch Brothers in Portland, Maine, this weekend.

The Low Anthem's headlining tour of the US is in full swing again following a five-concert run at SXSW in Austin last week. The band performs along the West Coast, starting at Largo in LA. Today is release day for the special limited-edition vinyl 7-inch single of "Charlie Darwin," featuring the Oh My God, Charlie Darwin track plus new and unreleased material. The LAist says the album "spans the gamut of everything you'd want in Americana inspired music." The San Jose Mercury News calls it "hauntingly beautiful."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a smash hit at SXSW last week, have returned to their home state of North Carolina and to their roots: the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina, where the band first met back in 2005. The Drops will join in on workshops and performances all week. Rolling Stone says that, as a result of their SXSW performances, "Their newgrass cover of 'Hit ‘Em Up Style' has been upgraded from 'must hear' to 'must experience.'"

Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday yesterday was celebrated in a big way. The momentous occasion is being acknowledged in many ways, not least in the Nonesuch Store, where the complete catalog of Sondheim CDs is 30% off all week. Last night, at the Roundabout Theater Company's Sondheim 80 gala, it was announced that the Henry Miller’s Theatre on West 43rd Street will be renamed the Stephen Sondheim.

Stephen Sondheim celebrates his 80th birthday today. Nonesuch Records wishes the composer a very happy birthday and is celebrating all week, taking 30% off every Sondheim CD in the Nonesuch Store, from the forthcoming cast recording of the current Broadway revival of A Little Night Music all the way back to Mandy Patinkin's 1995 album Oscar & Steve; from the first musical Sondheim ever wrote, Saturday Night, to his very latest, Road Show.

When Steve Reich turned 70 in 2006, the world's major concert halls celebrated with retrospectives of the composer's work. Included among them was the Barbican in London, which has just announced plans to celebrate Reich's 75th birthday next year with Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich, pairing four London premieres of new Reich compositions with music written by composers who have followed in his footsteps.

The Black Keys, due to release their sixth full-length album, Brothers, May 18 on Nonesuch, have added the album track "Tighten Up" to their MySpace page. The band reunited with producer Danger Mouse for this track and wrote, performed, and produced the rest of the album. Pitchfork notes "the soulful bounce of organ and guitar interplay" on the new tune. BBC Radio 1 says the song "adds a little sweet soul to their dynamic blues."

Brad Mehldau's latest Nonesuch album, Highway Rider, has been released to critical acclaim. The pianist/composer and his album are the subject of an extensive profile on NPR's All Things Considered. Jon Brion, the album's producer, says of Mehldau, "I just like the fact that he keeps changing it up, and I think that this is just another example of that." Saxophonist Joshua Redman explains: "He has the best groove on the planet."