Rhiannon Giddens has been named the Music Director for the 77th Ojai Music Festival, to be held June 8–11, 2023, in Ojai, CA. The initial list of guest artists includes Francesco Turrisi, Attacca Quartet, Wu Man, and Kayhan Kalhor. “I am so thrilled that Rhiannon Giddens accepted my invitation to become Music Director of the 2023 Ojai Music Festival,” says the Festival’s Artistic and Executive Director Ara Guzelimian. “I have boundless admiration for Rhiannon as both a compelling musician and as an extraordinary artistic catalyst bringing together musical worlds towards important philosophical, cultural, and social goals." Julia Bullock performs at the 2022 Festival, which takes place June 9–12. Past Artist Directors include John Adams, Jeremy Denk, and Dawn Upshaw.

Mary Halvorson performs songs from her just-released Nonesuch debut albums, Amaryllis and Belladonna, with the musicians on the albums in New Hampshire and Quebec this weekend ... Jeremy Denk brings Bach to Bath ... Rhiannon Giddens gives a lecture in Richmond ... Tigran Hamasyan brings StandArt to Budapest ... Emmylou Harris is at FreshGrass in Arkansas ... Hurray for the Riff Raff tours Texas with Bright Eyes ... Gabriel Kahane is in Chicago and Ann Arbor ... Kronos Quartet is in Germany ... Lake Street Dive plays Pittsburgh ... Jeff Parker, Lee Ranaldo are at LPR in NYC ... Caroline Shaw, Attacca Quartet are in Austria ... 

Ahead of the long-awaited world premiere of Omar, the opera composed by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, next Friday, Giddens has released her own recording of the song “Julie’s Aria” from the opera. The recording was made by Giddens with guitarist Bill Frisell and her frequent collaborator Francesco Turrisi. Omar is based on the life and autobiography of enslaved Muslim scholar Omar Ibn Said, who was forcefully brought to Charleston from Africa in 1807. “My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard," Giddens says, "but that can also add to the conversation about what’s going on now. This is a story that hasn’t been represented in the operatic world—or in any world.” Omar will also be performed by LA Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Boston Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

The Black Keys have announced two high-profile events to celebrate their new album, Dropout Boogie, out next week. On May 11, the duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney will perform at Los Angeles’ famed Troubadour and offer a global livestream of the intimate show in this 500-capacity venue exclusively via Flymachine. Livestream tickets are on sale now; in-person tickets go on sale on May 9. The band will also participate in an album release party with iHeart stations across the country at 7pm PT on May 13.

Carnegie Hall has announced its 2022–23 concert season, and featured among the performers taking the esteemed hall's stages are Rhiannon Giddens, who has been named a Perspectives artist for the season and will lead four concerts, and Kronos Quartet. Also included in the season is an all–Steve Reich program performed by Colin Currie Group and Synergy Vocals.

Sam Amidon kicks off a tour of North America in a performance of Nico Muhly’s The Only Tune with members of the Oregon Symphony, led by Jeffrey Kahane, in Beaverton, Oregon, on Friday. Timo Andres performs on the program as well, which is hosted by Gabriel Kahane. Amidon then continues through the Pacific Northwest with shows in Seattle, Vancouver (with special guest Joachim Cooder), and Portland, before heading to the East Coast in support of The Weather Station in Philadelphia, DC, Brooklyn, and Boston. 

Punch Brothers and Watchhouse join forces this summer for the second American Acoustic US tour, with dates in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and New Haven, among others; Sarah Jarosz also joins them for most of the dates. Thile says: “It took five years, but I’m elated to announce the second traveling edition of American Acoustic for this summer. Joining my fellow Punch Brothers and me in front of a pair of large condenser microphones will be our dear friends, Watchhouse and Sarah Jarosz, for a collaborative evening of music that traverses our respective catalogues and celebrates being together.”

Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) announces twenty-three new US tour dates, supporting Bright Eyes, beginning May 19 in Oklahoma City and continuing through July 3 in Omaha. Segarra is currently on a North American headlining tour in celebration of their Nonesuch debut album, LIFE ON EARTH. Summer dates in Europe begin July 16 in the UK and continue through September 20 in Berlin, with stops in Dublin, London, Paris, and Amsterdam, among others.

Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) begins a headline tour of the US and Canada featuring songs from their Nonesuch debut album, LIFE ON EARTH, this weekend. The month-long, 20-city tour starts in Atlanta on Saturday, with shows in Austin, Los Angeles, Pioneertown, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Columbus, Toronto, Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, DC, Durham, and Nashville. After performing at New Orleans Jazz Fest and We Are One Festival, Hurray for the Riff Raff heads to Europe and the UK to tour this summer.

Chris Thile, who is currently touring the United States with Punch Brothers, has announced a tour of Europe and the UK this autumn. The month-long tour begins in Estonia on October 20, making stops in Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, and the UK, culminating at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on November 15.

Caramoor, the cultural arts venue on an 80-plus-acre estate in Katonah, New York, has announced its 2022 summer season, including performances by several Nonesuch artists: Molly Tuttle, Kronos Quartet, Dawn Upshaw, Rhiannon Giddens, Caroline Shaw, and Rachael & Vilray. "This summer is one of the most dynamic in our history," exclaims Caramoor’s President and CEO Edward J. Lewis III. "Our incredible lineup of artists and repertoire includes voices from an array of backgrounds, eras, and lived experiences, reflecting a broad diversity of audiences from our stages."

Daughter of Swords (aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig) kicks off a two-week tour of the United States as special guest of The Tallest Man on Earth this Tuesday, March 1, at Fête Music Hall in Providence. The tour continues up and down the East Coast with shows in Boston, Portsmouth, New Haven, DC, Richmond, New York City, and Philadelphia, before culminating with two sold-out shows at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago on March 14 and 15.