A 2020 update to Chris Thile's song "Thank You, New York," featuring Gaby Moreno, from his 2017 album Thanks for Listening, is the setting for choreographer Justin Peck's new piece, which the New York City Ballet premiered. The performance, choreographed and directed by Peck, with cinematography by Jody Lee Lipes, is the culmination of NYCB's five-week digital fall season. You can watch the piece, featuring dancers Christopher Grant, Sara Mearns, Georgina Pazcoguin, and Taylor Stanley filmed at several locations around NYC, along with an interview with Peck and Lipes, here.

Pat Metheny has released a video for "America Undefined," the opening track to his critically acclaimed album From This Place, which you can watch here. The new video, by Robert Edridge-Waks, follows a video for the album's title track, released earlier this week.

Natalie Merchant took part in the Hudson Valley Votes virtual concert and rally earlier this month to get out the vote in the US election. The event raised funds for Common Cause, which works to strengthen democracy in America. Merchant was joined by Simi Stone to perform her song "This House Is on Fire," which you can watch here.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Emmylou Harris reunited with Rodney Crowell to perform "Love Hurts" for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s BIG NIGHT (At the Museum) benefit event, which aired last night. For the performance in the museum, which you can watch here, Harris plays the 1961 Martin New Yorker acoustic guitar of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, who wrote the song. Harris famously recorded "Love Hurts" with the late Gram Parsons.

David Byrne was on The Late Late Show with James Corden to discuss the new Spike Lee–directed HBO film of his American Utopia on Broadway and share some reasons to be cheerful he's found in a decidedly un-ghost-town-like New York City and on a trip to Staten Island in particular. You can watch the conversation here.

Rhiannon Giddens has composed a new song, "Best Day / New Day," for NPR's Morning Edition Song Project, in which musicians create an original song about the COVID-19 era. Giddens and Francesco Turrisi talk with Morning Edition host David Greene about the song, life during the pandemic, and its context in world history. You can hear the conversation and the song here.

Vagabon has released a live performance video of her song "Water Me Down," from her 2019 self-titled album. It was filmed by Justin Carlson during the same session as her performance of the song for Rolling Stone's first Fridays for Unity event on October 16 to support the Future Now Fund and help get out the vote. You can watch the video here.

Dawn Upshaw has been named among the inaugural ten inductees to the Opera Hall of Fame. The Opera Hall of Fame, established this year on the occasion of OPERA America's 50th anniversary, recognizes the achievements of outstanding living American artists, administrators, and advocates who have strengthened the art form and the field. The 2020 inductees will enter the Opera Hall of Fame alongside those formerly recognized through the NEA Opera Honors, from 2008 to 2011, including John Adams. An induction ceremony for the inaugural class will be held in early 2022 in New York City.

Pat Metheny has released a video for the title track to his critically acclaimed 2020 album, From This Place. The song features lyrics by Alison Riley, sung by Meshell Ndegeocello. Also performing on the track are drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda May Han Oh, pianist Gwilym Simcock, and the Hollywood Studio Symphony led by Joel McNeely. You can watch the video, made by Robert Edridge-Waks, here.

Sam Gendel's new album, DRM, was released digitally on Nonesuch Records earlier this month, with the vinyl due April 16. Here, he talks with London-based journalist John Lewis about the album, on which he performs solo musical experiments with vintage instruments, accompanied by his voice. Find out why he tells Lewis: “A friend said it was like Kanye West meets The Triplets of Belleville.”

Sam Amidon’s self-titled album is out digitally and on CD today, with the vinyl due January 22. "A fine showcase for Amidon’s studio experimentation," says Rolling Stone; "incorporates elements of spacious, echoing ambient electronic music to complement Amidon’s warm vocals, reminiscent of Nick Drake and Arthur Russell." No Depression says "this LP, full of delicate noise and artful sophistication, deserves a pause in a harried time." A video of the album track "Cuckoo," recorded live in concert at Kings Place in London earlier this month, can be seen here.

David Byrne has partnered with HeadCount—the non-partisan organization using the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy—to curate a playlist for Spotify. In honor of Spike Lee's new film of David Byrne's American Utopia on HBO Max, the playlist aims to inspire listeners in the United States to exercise their right to vote in the 2020 election. You can hear it here.