John Adams's opera Doctor Atomic is set to receive its UK premiere next Wednesday, February 25, in the English National Opera's production at the London Coliseum. New Statesman spoke with the composer about the piece, with its "shatteringly powerful" music, and about his place as "the leading American composer of his generation, still in full creative flow, prolific and inventive." The article examines Adams's operas, from his first, Nixon in China, which "transformed the world of opera," to his latest, the "shimmeringly beautiful" A Flowering Tree.

Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble gave a marathon performance of the composer's seminal piece Music in Twelve Parts at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall Monday night. It was the West Coast premiere of the complete work, which had received its world premiere 35 years ago in New York. "I loved it," exclaims San Jose Mercury News critic Richard Scheinin. The piece, "with its youthful energy and imagination, is such a beguiling paradox. At first, it seems so narrow in sound, limited by its minimalist methods. But then, unfolding like time itself, it comes to contain so much. It opens up, grows vast."

John Adams will be a featured composer of the Barbican Centre's 2009–10 season in a special John Adams Focus series next year. It will include six Adams works over six performances next February to July, featuring four UK premieres and two concerts with the composer leading the London Symphony Orchestra. The Times (UK) talks to Adams about his operas, with Doctor Atomic set to receive its UK premiere by the English National Opera next week.

There's no shortage of unforgettable musical memories for Valentine's: Brad Mehldau, Anne Sofie von Otter bring his Love Songs to Cambridge ... Adams works feature in dances by the Pennsylvania Ballet and by Savion Glover with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra ... Dan Auerbach plays Conan ... David Byrne ends his Southern Hemisphere tour ... Gipsy Kings play three nights ... Philip Glass, Patti Smith honor Allen Ginsberg; Glass plays marathon Music in 12 Parts ... Richard Goode performs Bach, Chopin in Budapest ... Punch Brothers play convivial California ... Alvin Ailey dances Reich ... Allen Toussaint continues Joe's Pub residency ... Rokia Traoré concludes US tour ... Dawn Upshaw's Australian tour closes ... and more ...

Rokia Traoré's two-week tour of the US comes to a close this weekend with a performance at the Somerville Theatre outside Boston tonight and a return to New York Saturday for show at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts. Rokia is the subject of a feature article in the Boston Globe, which examines her unique blend of traditional and modern sounds and instruments, contending that she has "found a potent muse in the sound of an old electric guitar," the Gretsch, featured prominently on her new album, Tchamantché.

Brad Mehldau will be joined by mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter at Carnegie Hall tonight for the world premiere of his new work Love Songs. The piece, written for von Otter, is Brad's third Carnegie Hall commission for voice and song; it is set to poems by Sara Teasdale, Philip Larkin, and e. e. cummings, each poet with a different perspective on love. Mehldau and von Otter will perform a number of American popular songs as well. On the first half of the program, pianist Bengt Forsberg will accompany von Otter on works by Sibelius, Hahn, and Schumann, and perform piano works by Ravel and Dukas.

Rokia Traoré returns to New York City for a performance of songs from her latest release, Tchamantché, at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village. The Chicago Tribune calls this week's performance at Chicago's Old Town School of Music "riveting," one that showed the many facets of the "fascinatingly complex singer ... who embraces but also stretches centuries-old traditions." Throughout, "the incredible Traoré was in command of stage, song and crowd alike."

Rokia Traoré, "one of Africa's most sublime artists" (San Francisco Chronicle), takes her two-week US tour to the Midwest ... Laurie Anderson's also in the region with a selection of songs and stories from her various solo shows ... The Black Keys re-conquer New York City ... David Byrne follows his "exhilarating triumph" (The Australian) in Sydney with one in Brisbane ... Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, et al. play PA and Portsmouth, NH ... Fred Hersch has two gigs in San Francisco ... Punch Brothers play a mini Mississippi college tour ... Steve Reich continues as featured artist at Vassar festival ... Allen Toussaint, Elliott Carter are fêted at the Grammys ... Dawn Upshaw continues her tour of Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra ... and more ...

Rokia Traoré's two-week US tour with music from her latest Nonesuch release, Tchamantché, continues tonight at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. That city's Star Tribune describes Traoré's work as "fearless, sophisticated, genre-bending music" and says her "gorgeous vocals ... express the nuances of intimacy and emotion with the refinement of a calligrapher." The Washington Post describes Rokia's voice as "dramatic and entrancing" but concludes, "The album's real allure is its blend of traditional and contemporary elements ..."

Laurie Anderson performs Burning Leaves, a selection of songs and stories from her various solo shows, in Cleveland, Ohio, this Saturday. She is also a featured artist in the new Guggenheim Museum exhibit The Third Mind, on the influence of Asian among American artists. In the House. In the Fire. Stories 1972–2008, a collection of spoken stories and sounds associated with Laurie's performance work, is included in the exhibit, which runs through April 19. In conjunction with the exhibit, Laurie performs two live solo shows, titled Transitory Life: Some Stories, in the museum next month.

Rokia Traoré's recently released album Tchamantché is lauded as the Malian singer/songwriter's "best and most daring work" in a review for NPR's All Things Considered by Banning Eyre. "Traoré's meld of African and rock aesthetics is understated and as comfortable as it is cool," says Eyre. "The world's less-developed societies have produced many singers who seek to balance musical style and cultural perspective, and to address the larger world. Few manage it with the grace and style of Rokia Traoré."

Fred Hersch will perform two shows in San Francisco this weekend: a free solo concert and conversation at the Community Music Center on Friday and a concert at Herbst Theatre with his new Pocket Orchestra Saturday night. He spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle about his recent triumph over a number of life-threatening illnesses and his return to the stage. "Hersch, who plays jazz with uncommon fluency, feeling and invention," says the Chronicle, "has recovered, regaining his strength through intense physical therapy and getting back to the affirming business of making music."