Steve Reich and Glenn Kotche will be among the artists celebrating the unveiling of the re-imagined Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York during the two-week Opening Nights Festival, February 22 through March 8, 2009. On March 3, each will take part in New York, New Music, New Hall, a marathon event of new and seminal works. Kotche will join Bang on a Can All-Stars for the NY premiere of one of his compositions, and Steve Reich & Musicians and Synergy Vocals come together for the composer's groundbreaking 1976 work Music for 18 Musicians. Also on the bill is Alarm Will Sound.

Congratulations to Joshua Redman, who was awarded the 2008 Harvard Arts Medal at a ceremony last Thursday evening at the New College Theatre in Cambridge. The Medal honors a distinguished Harvard graduate or faculty member who has achieved excellence in the arts and made a contribution to education or the public good. Redman is the 14th Harvard Arts Medal recipient. Previous honorees include John Adams, Peter Sellars, Yo-Yo Ma, John Harbison, and John Updike.

Youssou N'Dour was in Washington, DC, last Friday for a meeting at the White House with President Bush in honor of Malaria Awareness Day. Reuters reports that the two discussed the recent rise in the cost of food around the world and the resulting political instability, both of which have made the world's poorest all the more susceptible to malaria-causing conditions. Youssou is working to raise both awareness and the funds to eradicate the disease in part through such simple, cheap, and highly effective means as mosquito netting. Following his meetings in Washington during the day, Youssou made his way to New York City for an intimate benefit concert at Joe's Pub Friday night. 

This past weekend, Chicago Opera Theater began India Blooms in Chicago, its monthlong festival of Indian culture in preparation for the May 14 Midwest premiere of John Adams's latest opera, A Flowering Tree. The work features a libretto by Adams and his longtime collaborator Peter Sellars, adapted from an ancient southern Indian folktale and poetry translated by the late A. K. Ramanujan, a scholar at the University of Chicago. The composer will conduct the May 14 Chicago premiere and the succeeding performance, on May 17; three more performances will follow; all will take place at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

Don't forget to stop by your local independently owned record store tomorrow to check out all that's going on for Record Store Day. The Black Keys, fresh off last night's spot on the Late Show with David Letterman, will be DJing at New York City's Other Music. Also spinning during the day will be Tapes 'N' Tapes, Dead Meadow, Grizzly Bear, Deerhunter, and Interpol.