Kronos Quartet, as part of its 40th Anniversary Season, is the subject of a special exhibition at the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center titled For the Record: The World of Kronos on Nonesuch Records, which opened last night and runs through August 30. For the Record features original album artwork, composers' manuscripts and materials, historic performance photos, audio samples, tour memorabilia, and posters; the exhibition is presented in conjunction with KRONOS at 40, a five-day program starting July 24 and comprising 28 free performances on Lincoln Center’s plazas during the opening week of this year’s Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival.

Audra McDonald was featured on PBS Newshour last night, speaking with the show's Art Beat correspondent Jeffrey Brown about her new album, Go Back Home. McDonald, whom Brown describes as "a leading lady of musical theater and much more," discusses her connection to the songs on the album, her most personal yet, and the sense of home she found in the theater at an early age. You can watch the complete Newshour piece here.

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle, a two-CD set featuring highlights from three tribute concerts in honor of the late Kate McGarrigle, is out now. The album, with performances by Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Antony, Norah Jones, and others, earns a perfect five stars in the Financial Times; the Guardian calls it "glorious." Proceeds go to the Kate McGarrigle Foundation, supporting cancer care and research. The documentary Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You will be screened at BAM tonight and opens theatrically at NYC's Film Forum Wednesday. That night, BAM presents a tribute concert featuring the Wainwrights, Jones, Harris, and more.

Iron and Wine was the musical guest on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live last night. Singer-songwriter Sam Beam and the band performed two songs from their album Ghost on Ghost: " Grace for Saints and Ramblers" and "The Desert Babbler. You can watch the performances here. Iron and Wine has added three additional dates—in Lincoln, Nebraska; Nashville; and Atlanta—to its previously announced fall tour. Fan pre-sale begins Wednesday.

Devendra Banhart kicks off a five-week tour of Europe this week with a performance at The Button Factory in Dublin on Wednesday night, followed by two stops in the UK: at The Old Market in Brighton on Friday and the famed Glastonbury Festival on Saturday. In the weeks that follow, Banhart and his band will play headlining shows and summer festivals sets in Germany, Poland, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as a return to the UK to perform at The Ritz in Manchester and at Barbican Hall in London.

Kronos Quartet celebrates its 40th anniversary and launches a fifth decade with an array of projects and special events during its 2013–14 season. The milestone will be marked by a weeklong residency at Lincoln Center, coast-to-coast birthday concerts, a host of premieres, a Nonesuch CD boxed set, and performances around the globe. The Quartet will unveil more than a dozen commissioned works, plus two film scores and a volume of commissioned works published by Boosey & Hawkes. The anniversary season opens with a free outdoor concert this Saturday in New Haven that introduces the group's new cellist, Sunny Yang.

Nonesuch Records releases an album of three Bach works recorded by mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile on August 6, 2013. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1, produced by Edgar Meyer, comprises three works written for solo violin: Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001; Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002; and Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an instant download of the G minor sonata Fuga: Allegro; the first 500 pre-orders include an autographed print. “This record to me is not about this iconic violin music played on the mandolin," says Thile. "It's about Bach being one of the greatest musicians of all time, the solo violin music being some of his best work, and the mandolin having the potential to cast it in a new and hopefully interesting light."

Iron and Wine has added a number of new tour dates to the previously announced fall tour of the US and Canada featuring music from its Nonesuch debut album, Ghost on Ghost. This new leg of the tour, which begins October 31 at the Orpheum in LA, includes stops in Oakland, Portland, Vancouver, Seattle, Missoula, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Kansas City, with still more to be announced. Fan pre-sale begins today; general on-sale begins on Friday, June 21. Iron and Wine performs on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC this Monday, June 24.

Rokia Traoré, who is currently touring Europe, recently performed an intimate solo version of "Ka Moun Kè" off her new album, Beautiful Africa, for the Guardian. In the exclusive live session, part of the Guardian's How I wrote ... series, she discusses the origins of this love song, the title of which translates as "Darling, What Can I Do For You?" The performance is a preview of Traoré's upcoming tour stop at the Glastonbury Festival. Watch the video here. Songlines has listed Rokia Traoré's 2009 album, Tchamantché, at No. 4 among the Top 25 Mali albums.

Laurie Anderson began a week of special performances when she was joined by artist and activist Ai Weiwei, via Skype from Beijing, for the premiere of Greetings to the Motherland at Toronto's Luminato Festival last night; watch it in full here. Anderson leads two free concerts in New York City this week for the annual River to River Festival, featuring stories from United States Parts 1-4 with special guests Steve Buscemi and Young Jean Lee on Tuesday and a night of improvisation with longtime musical collaborators on Wednesday.

Fatoumata Diawara returns to North America for a summer-long tour of the US and Canada. This leg of her tour begins in New Hampshire tonight, then heads to Bonnaroo on Friday. The two-month tour takes Diawara and her band to cities throughout California, into Canada, the US Midwest, and the East Coast, including headline shows, summer festivals sets, and a concert in New York's Central Park for SummerStage. 

Bombino, who is currently touring the US with his "electrifying" show (A.V. Club), has made NPR Music's list of its 25 Favorite Albums of the Year (So Far) for his Nonesuch debut album, Nomad. "Full of undeniably hypnotic trance-guitar music, and produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, Nomad rocks like no other record this year," writes NPR Music's Bob Boilen. "Hearing Bombino in any American nightclub, the reaction is ecstasy and complete connection ... It's blues, it's trance and it's psychedelic in its repetition. Oh, and did I mention it rocks?" Bombino tells New York magazine: "There are two kinds of music in the desert. If it makes you want to listen to it, it’s the blues. If it makes you want to move, it’s rock.”