Today is composer Terry Riley's 75th birthday. The Nonesuch Journal spoke with Kronos Quartet's David Harrington about the group's decades long friendship and working relationship with the composer, celebrated in a concert tonight in California. (Kronos and Riley are pictured here at the composer's 50th birthday party.) "For me he's one of the world leading musical thinkers," says Harrington. "I'm looking forward to many more years together."

In response to the immigration battle currently raging in the US, Ry Cooder wrote the song "Quicksand," which tells the story of six would-be immigrants making their way from Mexico to the Arizona border. The track will be released exclusively on iTunes on June 29, with proceeds going to MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; it has now premiered exclusively on NPR's All Songs Considered blog.

Alarm Will Sound, which released its Nonesuch debut album, a/rhythmia, last September, makes its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall tonight, performing works by Aphex Twin, Autechre, and the Beatles. The ensemble joins Dirty Projectors to perform the latter group's Getty Address at the Barbican tomorrow. The events are part of the Barbican's London Blaze festival, which also includes performances by Caetano Veloso, Youssou N'Dour, Kronos Quartet, and Philip Glass.

Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, featuring Omara Portuondo, was due to kick off a three-city US tour in Brooklyn's Prospect Park tonight. Unfortunately, the performance has been canceled due to visa delays. Instead, a special outdoor screening of Wim Wenders’ classic documentary Buena Vista Social Club will take place. The remainder of the tour, at Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl, will take place as planned this weekend.

Punch Brothers are back in their adopted hometown of New York City, where they first crafted the songs on their new album, Antifogmatic, for a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. There's much to celebrate: the album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart of new artists. The band will discuss and perform songs from Antifogmatic on WNYC's Soundcheck this afternoon.

With the year at its halfway point, NPR's jazz sampler, Take Five, has picked its choices for the Best New Jazz of 2010 (So Far). Two of the five come from Nonesuch: Orchestrion, on which Pat Metheny "makes every instrument an extension of his guitar skills, technical knowledge and sheer artistic willpower," and Highway Rider, on which Brad Mehldau "shows how much he's grown as a composer, and not just a renowned pianist."

Composer Timothy Andres has been nominated for Project 440, a new commissioning program from Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and New York radio station WQXR that will culminate in the commissioning of four new works, to be premiered as part of the orchestra's 2011-2012 Carnegie Hall season. Comments from the public, via WQXR's website, will be a guiding factor in determining the final four composers to receive commissions.

In April, Laurie Anderson, Nonesuch Records, and Indaba Music launched a search for collaborators to remix her new song, “Only an Expert,” from the album Homeland. The jury of experts, including Anderson and Lou Reed, have now chosen a Grand Prize Winner and two Runners-Up, and fans have chosen ten Honorable Mentions, all of which can be heard here. "We loved all the entries," says Anderson. "What a huge variety. Thanks for sending the great music."

Punch Brothers have been celebrating the release of their new album, Antifogmatic, touring with Steve Martin. Tonight, the band will perform the album track "Rye Whiskey" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The band was at Bonnaroo last Friday, photos from which are now on nonesuch.com/media. Paste says: "On Antifogmatic, the guys sound more sure of themselves, more polished, more self-aware. The warm harmonies and crisp mandolin plucks and fiddle strains ... ring with the resounding clarity the album’s title suggests."

Natalie Merchant offered an intimate performance at the 2010 Poetry Conference at West Chester University on Saturday. The Wall Street Journal reports that "poets, scholars and other enthusiasts reveling in rhyme, meter and narrative in verse were lined up like smitten rock fans waiting for Natalie Merchant to sign copies of her new, deluxe-edition, double-disc recording, Leave Your Sleep." The songs on album, says the Journal, "reveal an ideal fit between poetic and musical rhythms."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops made their Bonnaroo debut and were included among SPIN's 30 Must-Hear Artists there. Photographer Andrew Pearson was there, capturing all the action both onstage and behind the scenes with the band in photos now available at nonesuch.com/media. The band also played the culminating event of the Spoleto Festival, drawing more than 3,000 people to their set.

Ben Folds was at the 14th Annual Webby Awards in New York City last night, giving the audience of internet insiders and stars an improv performance in the vein of his viral ChatRoulette videos on YouTube. Fittingly, Folds presented the Webby Award for Breakout of the Year to Andrey Ternovskiy, the 17-year-old Russian lad behind ChatRoulette.com.