Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass do Dracula at Sydney Festival ... Laurie Anderson performs Delusion in Ann Arbor ... Timothy Andres joins in at the Ecastatic Music Festival Marathon in NYC ... Wanda Jackson, Jack White play Grand Ole Opry ... Magnetic Fields documentary opens in Chicago ... Fernando Otero performs in NYC ... Punch Brothers sell out NYC's Bowery Ballroom for p-Bingo night ... Allen Toussaint turns 73, plays The Bright Mississippi with Don Byron, Nicholas Payton at Chicago's Symphony Center ... Sara Watkins hosts A Prairie Home Companion ... and more ... 

The Low Anthem concluded a week of events in New York City—which included performances on the Late Show with David Letterman and WNYC's Soundcheck—with a sold-out show at the Allen Room as a part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. The show featured songs from the band's forthcoming album, Smart Flesh, and a number of lovely surprises. Brooklyn Vegan says "the unique venue and view ... seemingly prompted the band to up their game just a bit more." The band will return to New York City to perform at the Bowery Ballroom on March 8.

The Black Keys are sorry to announce the cancellation of the New Zealand and Australian tour including all appearances at the Big Day Out touring festival as well as a portion of the European tour in March. An arduous year of touring and promotion has drained the band and necessitated time off. The band thanks everyone who has shown such incredible support since the release of Brothers and have helped make the album a success.

Four decades ago, Nonesuch Records released Joshua Rifkin's recordings of Scott Joplin's Piano Rags that went on to ignite a national passion for ragtime jazz and "created, almost alone, the Scott Joplin revival," as New York magazine wrote. On January 30, Rifkin will make his debut at New York's (Le) Poisson Rouge performing the music of Joplin and J.S. Bach in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the album.

Punch Brothers kick off their 2011 tour schedule with a sold-out show at the Somerville Theater outside Boston. The Secret Sisters join tonight and at this weekend's concerts in Burlington, Vermont, and New York City. The Improper Bostonian spoke with Chris Thile about the band's efforts to "cross bluegrass borders in search of transcendence." Time Out New York calls the band "jaw-dropping" and lists Saturday's show as a critics' pick. Chef Mario Batali includes the band's album Antifogmatic among his favorite listens.

The Low Anthem will be the guests on WNYC's Soundcheck today, performing songs from their forthcoming album, Smart Flesh. The band is in New York to play a sold-out concert for Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, then heads West to perform at the Sundance Film Festival and to Los Angeles for a show with Iron & Wine. Following an intimate set for a home-state crowd this past weekend, the Visible Voice blog says Ben Knox Miller "is leading the pack in a new generation of songwriters."

Renée Fleming comes to Carnegie Hall this week, accompanied by Hartmut Höll, for a performance that includes songs from Brad Mehldau's The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, featuring the poetry of Rainer Marie Rilke, as heard on Mehldau and Fleming's 2006 album Love Sublime. The Washington Post said of Fleming's performance at The Kennedy Center on Saturday that the program "showcased her gifts beautifully." Mehldau performs his Highway Rider at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA next week and offers a solo program at Carnegie Hall later this month.

Emmylou Harris kicks off the 2011 Sydney Festival ... John Adams Slonimsky's Earbox featured in LA Phil live cinematic broadcast across the US ... Timothy Andres performs with his brother in Connecticut ... The Black Keys are musical guests on Saturday Night Live ... Björk hosts karaoke marathon in Iceland to fight energy company sale ... David Byrne talks Here Lies Love on MPR's The Current ... Randy Newman joins Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans ... The Low Anthem plays close to home ... Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music closes on Broadway ... Allen Toussaint plays Tokyo ... and more ...

Punch Brothers kick off their 2011 tour schedule next week with two shows in Massachusetts. The Boston Globe spoke with Chris Thile about the band, which it describes as "the rare band of musicians who are all virtuosos in their own right. Progressive bluegrass is the shorthand for what they do, but that doesn’t capture the music’s full scope." The Boston Herald calls them a "progressive bluegrass supergroup" that has "fast become the hottest pickers in the land."

John Adams's 1987 opera Nixon in China receives its Met premiere on February 2, with the composer on the podium and Peter Sellars directing. To coincide with this momentous occasion, Nonesuch will reissue the Grammy-winning original cast recording in a newly redesigned and specially-priced three-CD set with new notes by Adams and Sellars. Among the events marking the production are a conversation with Sellars at the Asia Society; a preview with Adams, Sellars, and cast members hosted by WQXR; and a conversation at the Met with the creators. The February 12 performance of Nixon in China will be broadcast live in movie theaters around the world.

Wanda Jackson has added further live dates to her upcoming, sold-out New York City and Los Angeles record release shows. The newly announced tour dates include a Grand Ole Opry performance in Nashville, a second Los Angeles show, a return to New York, and stops in Philadelphia, Boston, DC, and Dallas. Jackson is scheduled to perform with Jack White & The Third Man House Band on The Late Show with David Letterman on January 20 and Conan on January 25.

Wanda Jackson will ring in the New Year on Jools Holland's Hootenanny, airing on BBC Two starting at 11 PM on December 31. The 18th annual Hootenanny will feature Jackson's rendition of Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good," off her forthcoming album The Party Ain't Over, plus performances from Kylie Minogue, Vampire Weekend, Cee-Lo Green, Roger Daltrey, Toots Hibbert, and Secret Sisters, among many others.