Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, has announced its 2015–16 concert season, the organization's 110th, which will feature performances from artists and works by composers familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Kronos Quartet, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Youssou N'Dour, John Adams, Timo Andres, and Jacob Cooper.

John Adams conducts his Scheherezade.2 with Cincinnati Symphony ... Sam Amidon tours Europe ... Laurie Anderson curates Live Ideas Festival in NYC ... Timo Andres plays in NYC ... Jacob Cooper performs his Silver Threads in Portland ... Jeremy Denk tours with Florida Symphony ... Fatoumata Diawara tours US ... Rhiannon Giddens tours Northeast ... Richard Goode plays Beethoven and more in Baltimore ... Kronos Quartet is in France ... Audra McDonald tours New Jersey ... Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman trios tour Europe, separately ... and more ...

Rhiannon Giddens was the subject of a feature on PBS NewsHour, looking at her solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn. "Her debut celebrates women who influenced her, some famous like Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline, others, like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Libba Cotten, much less so," says NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown. "The album also showcases Giddens’ range through gospel, blues, country, and jazz." Watch the NewsHour piece here. Forbes, reviewing her recent NYC tour stop, exclaims: "Besides a thrilling voice, she comes at you with a barrage of sounds and sights and movements from an arsenal of talents that will positively floor you ... She’s a musician’s musician, and, moreover, a people’s musician, one of the best ever."

Olivia Chaney, whose debut album, The Longest River, is due out April 28, will perform a number of shows celebrating the release in the United Kingdom in May, in Manchester, Edinburgh, and London, before heading to North America for a three-week tour starting in Washington, DC, on June 4 and culminating in New York City on June 25. During a recent visit to the States, Chaney stopped by The Living Room in Brooklyn—a stop on her upcoming tour—to perform "Imperfections" for a new video, which you can watch here.

Tyondai Braxton shares a new track, "Gracka," from his Nonesuch debut album HIVE1. "'Gracka' is a nickname for my wife Grace and it reminds me of her," says Braxton. "The piece emulates her always surprising, always beautiful spirit and down to earth nature." Hear the track here. Braxton also announces the Canadian premiere of HIVE at Montreal's MUTEK Festival on May 30, followed by a three-night HIVE residency at The Kitchen in NYC, June 4–6, and solo dates in Copenhagen, Ghent, and London. 

Sam Amidon, whose latest album, Lily-O, was released in September, kicks off a tour of Europe with a performance in Ghent, Belgium, tonight, followed by a two-week tour of the Benelux countries, Ireland, and the UK with Sharon Van Etten, and a ten-day solo tour culminating in a performance at Islington Assembly Hall in London on May 10. Amidon then heads to the US for performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music celebrating the music of Arthur Russell and several summer festivals, including Wilco's Solid Sound, Justin Vernon's Eaux Claires, and Pickathon.

Alarm Will Sound performs Adams, Reich, and Braxton, and Timo Andres performs his Shy and Mighty at Seoul's Right Now Music Festival ... Laurie Anderson performs in upstate NY ... Fatoumata Diawara starts US tour ... Rhiannon Giddens takes tour to mid-Atlantic ... Audra McDonald sings at SUNY Potsdam ... Brad Mehldau plays three sold-out shows in Paris, including a set with Tigran Hamasyan ... Punch Brothers tour Texas ... Joshua Redman Trio tours Europe ... and more ...

Brad Mehldau Trio kicks off a two-week tour of Europe with a performance at the Opéra de Rouen in Rouen, France. It's the first of several performances in the country, followed by stops in Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, and Italy. The Trio's set at the Philarmonie in Paris this Saturday is one of three nights Mehldau plays there this weekend, also including a solo set and a special duo concert with Tigran Hamasyan. Following the European tour, the Trio returns to the States for six-night residency at the Village Vanguard in NYC in early May. 

Pat Metheny will be the 2015 Detroit Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence, including different music incarnations at this year's festival Labor Day Weekend—sets from the Pat Metheny Trio with Antonio Sánchez and Scott Colley and special guest Detroiter Kenny Garrett; an intimate acoustic duo with Detroiter Ron Carter; a reunion with the Gary Burton in a special quartet put together just for this festival; and a large ensemble with the Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra—as well as education and mentorship activities throughout the year.

Big Ears Festival takes place in Knoxville with Kronos Quartet, Rhiannon Giddens, Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Tyondai Braxton ... NY Phil performs new John Adams ... Jeremy Denk tours Northeast ... Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell perform at Tennessee benefit ... James Farm tours Brazil ... Audra McDonald sings outside DC ... Natalie Merchant performs in Connecticut ... Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters finish Latin American tour at Lollapalooza Brazil ... Punch Brothers perform in Portland ... and more ...

Rhiannon Giddens kicks off her spring tour, featuring music from her new debut solo album Tomorrow Is My Turn, with two performances at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, this weekend. The tour continues through June, with stops in cities and at festivals along the way, including New York City (April 9 at The Town Hall), Chicago (April 23 at The Vic), Los Angeles (May 9 at El Rey Theatre), and the Bonnaroo and Telluride Bluegrass festivals in June. Giddens’ bandmates from Carolina Chocolate Drops—multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins, cellist Malcolm Parson, and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett—are part of the touring band.

The 2015 Big Ears Festival takes place in Knoxville, Tennessee, this weekend including performances from artists-in-residence Kronos Quartet, Laurie Anderson, Rhiannon Giddens, Sam Amidon, and Tyondai Braxton. Big Ears is held in venues throughout downtown Knoxville. Click here for a schedule of the Nonesuch artists' events at this weekend's festival.