Gidon Kremer returned to Lincoln Center in New York on Saturday for the second-annual White Light Festival, "an exploration of music’s power to illuminate our interior lives," to present a program titled Homage to J.S. Bach. The program centered around Bach's Chaconne for solo violin and included the US premiere of Silvestrov's Dedication to J.S. Bach. The New York Times calls the Bach piece "as transcendent a work as you will find." Kremer joins the Boston Symphony Orchestra this week at Boston's Symphony Hall for works by Schumann and Strauss.

Audra McDonald brought her US tour to a place where the four-time Tony Award winner is quite at home—the New York City stage—when she performed at Carnegie Hall Saturday night. The New York Times' Stephen Holden calls McDonald "a one-of-a-kind musical super-talent" who received "an unbroken wave of adoration" from the Carnegie Hall crowd. This echoes the Los Angeles Times' recent concert review, which says: "Audra McDonald is amazing ... one in a million."

Audra McDonald—"one in a million" (LA Times)—performs at Carnegie Hall ... Laurie Anderson does Delusion in Providence ... Alarm Will Sound plays NY's SONiC Festival ... Björk brings Biophilia to Reykjavik ... The Black Keys are in Seattle ... Carolina Chocolate Drops, Richard Goode play Wisconsin ... Wanda Jackson closes out US tour in North Carolina ... Gidon Kremer celebrates Bach at Lincoln Center ... Kronos Quartet plays WOMAD in Australia ... k.d. lang is out West ... The Low Anthem closes out US tour in Boston ... Jessica Lea Mayfield supports the Avett Brothers in Arizona ... Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman close out duo tour at SFJAZZ ... Natalie Merchant gives benefit concert in upstate NY ... Pat Metheny Trio launches European tour ... Sara Watkins takes Watkins Family Hour to Texas ... and more ...

Pat Metheny, fresh off his US tour with bassist Larry Grenadier, launches a 30-city European tour this weekend with Grenadier and fellow Pat Metheny Trio member Bill Stewart, on drums. This is the first time in nearly a dozen years that the Trio behind the albums Pat Metheny Trio 99>00 and Trio Live will have toured Europe. MPR, reviewing Metheny's new solo album, What's It All About, says: "Metheny has redefined how jazz is played on the guitar." The forthcoming reissue of his 1999 duo album with Jim Hall, announced in yesterday's Nonesuch Journal, is available to pre-order.

Björk continues to celebrate the release of her new album, Biophilia, with the latest show in her Reykjavik residency tonight. New York magazine found her "pitch-perfect" at Sunday's show. She is the subject of a Q&A with Mashable and a feature article in the Los Angeles Times, which says that, with Biophilia, Björk "has reinvented the album into a transformative transmedia experience." The San Francisco Chronicle says she "has come up with her most compelling work in eons"; "the results are extraordinarily sumptuous and seductive." The Philadelphia Inquirer calls it "eerily beautiful."

Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy, whose Nonesuch debut album, Grá agus Bás, was released earlier this year, is in Chicago for the performance of his 2002 piece To Herbert Brun. Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Cliff Colnot, kick off the 2011/12 season of the CSO's MusicNOW new-music series with tonight's concert, held at the Harris Theater. Dennehy's piece features guest soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw. The program also include works by John Corigliano, Kirsten Broberg, Alejandro Viñao, and Paula Matthusen.

Björk continues her Biophilia Reykjavik residency following Wednesday's "remarkable" premiere (Rolling Stone) ... Laurie Anderson takes Delusion to Vermont ... Timothy Andres plays New York's SONiC Festival ...  Richard Goode joins The Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall ... Wanda Jackson plays Delua Fest ... Kronos Quartet gives Terry Riley's Sun Rings its Australia debut at Melbourne Festival ... k.d. lang tours the Southwest ... Jessica Lea Mayfield is in Nashville ... Audra McDonald plays her hometown of Fresno ... Pat Metheny closes out Blue Note NYC residency ... Josh Redman, Brad Mehldau continue duo tour in the Northeast ... Steve Reich birthday celebrations continue in Paris and London ... Allen Toussaint joins Mavis Staples in Vancouver ... Sara Watkins tours the South ... and more ...

Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman, longtime friends and frequent collaborators, head out for a brief duo tour of the United States, starting in Easton, Pennsylvania, tonight, followed by stops in Philadelphia, New York City, Ithaca, and San Francisco, where the duo makes its West Coast debut at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. As the San Francisco Chronicle writes: "Two of jazz's most gifted improvisers converse in the moment." They head to Europe next month for a tour of Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg.

Björk, whose new album, Biophilia, was released this week, is in her hometown of Reykjavik, Iceland, to celebrate with the launch of a nine-show Biophilia residency at the brand-new Harpa Concert Hall, beginning with two nights as part of the Iceland Airwaves Festival. The residency is fully sold-out. But not to worry: Nonesuch has teamed up with Icelandair to offer a lucky US fan tickets to the November 7 closing-night performance, plus airfare and hotel accommodations. Enter to win!

Björk’s new album, Biophilia, is out now. Additionally, the complete Biophilia App is now available in the iTunes App Store. Biophilia is featured on this week's Science Times podcast from the New York Times. Björk spoke about the project with NPR's All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, who says: "Björk is a visionary." CNN says the project "really takes technology, music, and even education to a new place." 

Pat Metheny brings his 20-city US tour with bassist Larry Grenadier to a close with a special week-long engagement at the Blue Note in New York City. Metheny and Grenadier launch a European tour with drummer Bill Stewart next week and reunite as a duo for a week's run at the Blue Note in Tokyo in January. All About Jazz calls Metheny's latest solo album, What's It All About, "an essential record ... [H]e has made a record that can lure the listener into emotional spaces that enchant, seduce and delight."

The celebrations of Steve Reich's 75th birthday head to Paris for Steve Reich: Pulsations, a week-long series of concerts, dance performances, and other events at Cité de la Musique. Pulsations begins with a concert by Ensemble Modern, Synergy Vocals, and the composer himself. The all-Reich program includes the French premiere of his Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Double Sextet paired with Drumming (Part 1) and Music for 18 Musicians. The concert will be broadcast on France Musique next month.