Audra McDonald—whose first solo album in seven years, Go Back Home, was released earlier this year on Nonesuch Records—kicks off a four-month North American tour in the Opening Night Gala of the San Francisco Symphony’s 2013–14 Season. She and the orchestra, led by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, perform an all-American program at Davies Symphony Hall tonight. McDonald’s tour continues through December and includes performances in Austin, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Kansas City, Toronto, and more. 

Joshua Redman Quartet and an orchestra perform songs from his new album, Walking Shadows, at Detroit Jazz Fest ... John Adams conducts the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in his Violin Concerto and the Australian premiere of City Noir ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour New England ... Emmylou Harris celebrates local farming at Ontario's Greenbelt Harvest Picnic ... Lianne La Havas performs at Jamie Oliver and Alex James’s Big Feastival in the UK ... Audra McDonald's Live From Lincoln Center special airs in an expanded edition on PBS ... Youssou N’Dour is the subject of a new documentary on BBC Four ... and more ...

Audra McDonald joins Boston Pops, John Williams, and David Newman for Film Night at Tanglewood ... John Adams continues Australia tour at Sydney Opera House ... Devendra Banhart plays LA's FYF Fest ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour Denmark and UK ... Jeremy Denk concludes Sydney residency ... Lianne La Havas is at Helsinki Festival ... Joshua Redman plays Festival de Jazz de Chihuahua ... Chris Thile closes out Goat Rodeo tour in California ... Sara Watkins is at Clear Mountain View Music Fest in North Carolina ... and more ...

John Adams makes his first-ever Australian concert appearances with programs titled Adams Conducts Adams in Sydney and Melbourne. Marking his Sydney Opera House debut as conductor, Adams leads the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and saxophonist Timothy McAllister in the world premiere of his Saxophone Concerto on Thursday and Friday. Also on the program are Adams’s Violin Concerto performed by Leila Josefowicz and works by Beethoven and Respighi. Adams heads next to Melbourne to conduct the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in an all-Adams program at Hamer Hall August 29 and 31 featuring the Australian premiere of City Noir and performances of his Violin Concerto and Short Ride in a Fast Machine.

Joel and Ethan Coen, T Bone Burnett, and Scott Rudin announced today a benefit concert entitled Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of “Inside Llewyn Davis,” which will take place at The Town Hall in New York City on Sunday, September 29. The concert is inspired by music from the upcoming Coen Brothers’ film, Inside Llewyn Davis, which is set in the 1960’s Greenwich Village folk music scene. A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the National Recording Preservation Foundation. Artists performing at the concert include The Avett Brothers, Joan Baez, Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops, Lake Street Dive, Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, Milk Carton Kids, Marcus Mumford, Conor Oberst, Punch Brothers, Secret Sisters, Patti Smith, Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings, Willie Watson, and Jack White. Stars of the film will also perform at the event, including Oscar Isaac (who plays the title role in the film), Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Stark Sands. Tickets to the concert will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 12 PM EDT at Ticketmaster.com.

Dawn Upshaw and Crash Ensemble perform Donnacha Dennehy's That the Night Come at Kilkenny Arts Festival ... Sam Amidon, Bombino play Lowlands Festival in Netherlands ... Laurie Anderson performs in East Hampton ... Kremerata Baltica closes out Costa Rica festival ... Carolina Chocolate Drops are in Pennsylvania ... Dr. John performs in his hometown of New Orleans ... Jeremy Denk joins Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney ... Fatoumata Diawara concludes North American tour ... Lianne La Havas plays UK's V Festival ... Joshua Redman is in Reykjavik ... Chris Thile and the Goat Rodeo goes to Bethel Woods and Ravinia ... and more ...

Nonesuch releases pianist Jeremy Denk's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations on September 30 (October 21 internationally), available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. The album includes a companion DVD with video "liner notes," on which Denk demonstrates passages on the piano as he explains certain details of the iconic piece. Watch an excerpt here. The New York Times has remarked on Denk's "profound affinity with Bach," and the Philadelphia Inquirer has called his performance of the Goldberg Variations "mesmerizing." Denk plays in 15 US cities this fall including a performance of the Goldberg Variations in Boston, Chicago, and DC and concerts with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Krannert Center.

Sam Amidon’s Nonesuch debut album, Bright Sunny South, released this spring to critical acclaim, will be released on vinyl on September 24 with a download of the album and a bonus vinyl 7” disc featuring two previously unreleased recordings; it is available to pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. Amidon will tour North America throughout September including two nights at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City with Bill Frisell. 

Randy Newman will open the 2013–2014 season of free concerts from the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. His performance in the Thomas Jefferson Building's Coolidge Auditorium will take place on Saturday, October 5, followed by a conversation with the Music Division’s Mark Horowitz about the art of songwriting. Audra McDonald will spotlight songs from the Library’s American musical theater collections in her October 10 Coolidge Auditorium concert. Tickets will be available starting September 4.

Kronos Quartet joins The National and Bombino plays his own set at Outside Lands festival in San Francisco ... Sam Amidon plays Haldern Pop Fest ... Laurie Anderson brings Dirtday! to Oslo ... Carolina Chocolate Drops, Fatoumata Diawara, Sara Watkins play Edmonton Folk Fest ... Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter tour South, as does Dr. John ... Kremerata Baltica tours Costa Rica ... Randy Newman performs in Kentucky ... Joshua Redman, Rokia Traoré perform at Festival Au Grès du Jazz in France ... Chris Thile celebrates Elliott Smith in NYC ... Allen Toussaint closes out Lincoln Center Out of Doors ... and more ...

Pianist Jeremy Denk makes his Australian debut with a performance at Newcastle City Hall on Monday, August 12, kicking off a two-week tour of the country with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) led by conductor, artistic director, and lead violinist Richard Tognetti. The tour—featuring works by Bach, Ligeti, Ives, and Brahms—continues with performances in Adelaide and Perth, followed by several stops in Sydney, and rounds out with dates in Wollongong and Melbourne.

The life and music of Canadian singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle will be celebrated in a number of special events held in her hometown of Montreal this week. The Outremont neighborhood where McGarrigle lived will inaugurate Place Kate-McGarrigle in her honor Wednesday afternoon. Later that evening, the feature documentary capturing the 2011 NYC McGarrigle tribute concerts will be screened at the Théâtre Outremont, where, on Thursday, Kate's children, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and her sisters Anna and Jane will host two tribute concerts with special guests to benefit the Kate McGarrigle Foundation for sarcoma research.