Chris Thile celebrates last week's Nonesuch release of Laysongs, his first truly solo album, with a US tour that includes a handful dates this summer—at Telluride Bluegrass Festival this week and along the East Coast in the coming months—and many more in the fall, starting in the Midwest, heading next to New England and New York, then down to the Southeast. 

Carnegie Hall has announced its 2021–22 concert season, sharing plans to reopen its landmark concert venue to the general public in October, and among the performers taking the esteemed hall's stages are Sō Percussion with Dawn Upshaw and Gilbert Kalish, and Kronos Quartet; as well as Youssou N'Dour. The season also features works by composers including Caroline Shaw, John Adams, Nico Muhly, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and Michael Gordon.

Ojai Music Festival has announced details for the 75th Festival, September 16–19, 2021, with 2021 Music Director John Adams; the Ojai debuts of Rhiannon Giddens and Attacca Quartet; the return of Timo Andres; and works by Andres, Giddens, Laurie Anderson, Donnacha Dennehy, Philip Glass, Ingram Marshall, Brad Mehldau, Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, and others. The festival events will also stream live. 

Composer/multi-instrumentalist Jeff Parker will tour on a double bill with guitarist/singer-songwriter Steve Gunn in December. The fifteen-city tour begins at Thalia Hall in Chicago, heads throughout the Midwest and East Coast, and culminates at Bowery Ballroom in NYC. You can find details here.

David Byrne and Laurie Anderson will be part of NYC's Park Avenue Armory's new season of new commissions created by artists during and in response to the pandemic, presented in a socially distanced space with masks worn. The season is due to open March 24 with Bill T. Jones's Afterwardsness, followed at dates TBA by SOCIAL! the social distance dance club, an interactive experience conceived by Byrne, choreographer Steven Hoggett, and set designer Christine Jones, in which the audience is invited to dance in their own socially distanced spotlights to a curated playlist, with instructional voiceover by Byrne; and Party in the Bardo, in which Anderson and jazz pianist/composer Jason Moran perform, underpinned by drones from Lou Reed's guitars.

Chris Thile, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Rhiannon Giddens, Jeremy Denk, Mandy Patinkin, Gaby Moreno, and Nico Muhly will take part in NY PopsUp, a festival featuring hundreds of pop-up performances—many of which are free of charge and all open to the public—throughout New York City and State. Additionally, Thile and Salvant are on a council of artistic advisors partnering with curator Zack Winokur to program the series. NYPopsUp, which will run from Saturday, February 20, through Labor Day, will make stages out of existing landscapes, including iconic transit stations, parks, subway platforms, museums, skate parks, street corners, fire escapes, parking lots, storefronts, and upstate venues. The festival is being coordinated with state public health officials and will strictly adhere to Department of Health COVID-19 protocols.

While most of us can't go out to take in great live music, here are some events taking place online to enjoy while staying home this weekend: On Friday, Mariza sings the music of Amália Rodrigues for NYC's Town Hall from Portugal, Vagabon performs from a decked-out Boulevard Studios in LA, and Jeremy Denk performs Bach for Emory University's Schwartz Center. On Sunday, Chris Thile leads his master class, Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet perform for Miami's IlluminArts from NYC, and Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi perform for Celtic Connections from Ireland.

Mountain Man will perform three unique, ticketed streaming concerts on three Thursdays next month—December 3, 10, and 17—for their Live From the Garden series. The band filmed the shows in North Carolina: in the woods, at home, and by the fire. Each night has a different set list. Tickets are on sale now.

Punch Brothers present Live from Blackbird, a pair of livestreamed performances from Blackbird Studio in Nashville, TN, where they made their 2012 album Who’s Feeling Young Now? and where they are currently at work on their next record. The shows begin at 8pm ET the next two Sundays: November 15 and November 22. The band members reunited this week for the first time since before the pandemic began. Each Live from Blackbird concert will be unique, with no repeated songs. A VIP option is also available and includes a Q&A with the band at the end of the livestream, accompanied by cocktails; VIP ticket buyers will be sent a cocktail guide with recommended recipes.

John Adams, the 2021 Music Director and conductor for the Ojai Music Festival, has announced featured artists for the 75th festival, June 10–13, 2021, including composer/pianist Timo Andres, who returns to Ojai to give the first live public performance of I Still Play, and Attacca Quartet, which makes its Ojai debut performing works by Caroline Shaw and others. Adams will conduct two concerts with works by Steve Reich, among others; his own work will be on programs by the LA Phil New Music Group and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.

While most of us can't go out to take in great live music, here are some events taking place online to enjoy while staying home this weekend: Sam Amidon performs in concert from Kings Place in London on Saturday; Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris, and Yola can be see in the free online Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on Saturday; Joachim Cooder concludes his virtual in-store tour via Electric Fetus Instagram Live tonight; and Rob Mazurek performs Friday–Sunday from Marfa for his art show in Florence, Italy.

Joachim Cooder, whose Nonesuch debut album, Over That Road I'm Bound, is out this Friday, will perform a series of virtual in-store performances via Instagram Live of several US independent record stores this week. The sets begin on the Instagram of Music Millennium Records in Portland, OR, tonight, followed by Salzer's Records in Ventura, Grimey's in Nashville, Boo Boo Records in San Luis Obispo, and Electric Fetus in Minneapolis on release day. Details here.