Sam Amidon, who is currently leading a US headline tour, is on the latest episode of BBC World Service’s Music Life along with Brìghde Chaimbeul, Rhodri Davies, and Linda Buckley. They discuss the roles of tradition and place in music, and what they might think about when performing. You can hear their conversation here.

This Easter Weekend, Sam Amidon celebrates the 10th anniversary of his album Lily-O at LPR in NYC with Bill Frisell, Shahzad Ismaily, and Chris Vatalaro, then heads to Cambridge. Ambrose Akinmusire is in NYC to lead his sextet at Harlem Stage. Laurie Anderson brings her Let X=X show to Portland and Seattle, where Hurray for the Riff Raff performs from The Past Is Still Alive. Jeremy Denk joins Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Brad Mehldau is in Boulder. Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion play from Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part in Tucson.

The Big Ears Festival is in Knoxville, TN, with performances by Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Ringdown, Davóne Tines, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, and Yasmin Williams; conversations with many of the above; and an exhibit of Nonesuch artist photos by Michael Wilson. Beyond Big Ears, John Adams conducts LA Phil in Timo Andres's new concerto and his own City Noir at Disney Hall, where SF Symphony performs his Naive and Sentimental Music. Richard Goode plays Beethoven in Michigan. Tigran Hamasyan tours California. Emmylou Harris is in Pennsylvania and Boston, where The Magnetic Fields start their 69 Love Songs anniversary tour. Mandy Patinkin is in Portland, OR. Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered is performed on Prince Edward Island.

Rhiannon Giddens plays a sold-out show at the Beacon Theatre in NYC, where Nathalie Joachim has sold out Carnegie Hall’s Resnick Education Wing. The Black Keys play a set at Stubb's in Austin for SXSW. Tigran Hamasyan and his trio are in Boston and Chicago. Hurray for the Riff Raff has a sold-out show in St. Paul. Brad Mehldau plays solo in Europe—in Geneva, Rome, and Verona. Mandy Patinkin is in San Antonio. Cécile McLorin Salvant performs Ogresse conducted by Darcy James Argue in Luxembourg and Brussels.

The 2024 Big Ears Festival is next week, taking place in venues throughout downtown Knoxville, TN, March 21–24, with more than a dozen Nonesuch artists past, present, and future performing as part of the label's 60th anniversary celebrations. In addition to all of the music and film offerings, Big Ears also hosts a number of artist conversations with music journalists Ann Powers and Nate Chinen, including talks with Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Brad Mehldau, Davóne Tines, and Yasmin Williams.

Cécile McLorin Salvant begins a five-city European Ogresse tour conducted by Darcy James Argue at Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. John Adams and Steve Reich's music is performed in Haarlem and Paris. Richard Goode plays Beethoven in New Jersey. Hurray for the Riff Raff is in Burlington and Toronto. Kronos Quartet performs to Sam Green’s live documentary about the group in California. Mandy Patinkin is in Tallahassee. Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion are in Berlin.

Hurray for the Riff Raff is in Philadelphia and Woodstsock. John Adams’ Frenzy gets world premiere at the Barbican in London. Sam Amidon tours New England with This Is The Kit. Jeremy Denk joins Danish String Quartet in Denmark. Kronos Quartet is in Berkeley. Mandy Patinkin is in California and Colorado. Cécile McLorin Salvant joins Jon Batiste at Montreux Jazz Festival Miami. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway play WinterWonderGrass Steamboat in Colorado.

Timo Andres makes his Carnegie Hall solo debut in Zankel Hall. Ambrose Akinmusire is at The JAI in La Jolla. Sam Amidon tours Pennsylvania with This Is the Kit. Laurie Anderson talks with Tom McCarthy at the Rubin Museum in NYC. Jeremy Denk performs the Bach Partitas at Wigmore Hall in London. Rhiannon Giddens concludes her European tour in Glasgow and Dublin. Mary Halvorson and the Tomeka Reid Quartet tour New England. Hurray for the Riff Raff kicks off a tour at Tipitina's in New Orleans. Kronos Quartet is in Scottsdale. Makaya McCraven is in North Bethesda and Durham. Mandy Patinkin performs in Montclair, NJ. Cécile McLorin Salvant is in Towson, MD.

Hurray for the Riff Raff, aka Alynda Segarra, who celebrates Friday's release of their new album, The Past Is Still Alive, with the launch of a months-long headline tour in New Orleans on Sunday, will join Norah Jones on her North American tour this summer. The nine-city run starts in Colorado with shows at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail and Red Rocks in Morrison on July 22 and 23, respectively, followed by stops in Utah, Idaho, Washington, British Columbia, and Oregon, culminating in San Francisco August 3. 

This President's Day weekend in the United States, Cécile McLorin Salvant is in Georgia and Florida. Jeremy Denk performs Bach in Burlington. Rhiannon Giddens tours Germany, with shows in Hamburg, Berlin, and Cologne. Richard Goode performs Beethoven in Fresno. Mary Halvorson is at Roulette in Brooklyn. Makaya McCraven is in Saratoga Springs and Brattleboro. Mandy Patinkin is in Arizona, performing in Mesa and Tucson. The Staves join Nickel Creek in Indiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, fresh off their second consecutive GRAMMY win for Best Bluegrass Album last week, for City of Gold, have announced their "Down the Rabbit Hole" US tour this spring and summer. The dates begin April 18 and run through June with stops in Atlanta, Memphis, Milwaukee, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Omaha, St. Louis, and more. The new shows follow the band’s Big Ears Festival set next month and coincide with stops at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Steve Reich is the focus of Radio France's Festival Présences in Paris; Caroline Shaw performs. The Staves tour with Nickel Creek in Des Moines and Indianapolis. Laurie Anderson joins poet Jane Hirshfield in conversation at the Rubin Museum in NYC. Timo Andres performs The Blind Banister with the Oregon Symphony in Salem and Portland. Rhiannon Giddens kicks off a European tour in France and the Netherlands. Mary Halvorson and her Amaryllis sextet are in Maryland and at 92Y in NYC. Brad Mehldau is solo at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. Cécile McLorin Salvant performs at the University at Buffalo.