Senegalese singer-songwriter Cheikh Lô will return to North America this April to play a series of venues and festivals featuring music from his critically acclaimed fifth album, Jamm. This will be the first opportunity for North American audiences to hear Lô performing songs from the album since its release in July 2011. The tour includes a performance at Carnegie Hall, sets at the New Orleans Jazz Fest and Louisiana International Festival, and shows in DC, St. Louis, Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Ithaca, and Montreal.

John Adams's opera The Death of Klinghoffer received its long-awaited London premiere by the English National Opera this past weekend. The production, led by conductor Baldur Brönniman and director Tom Morris has received tremendous attention in the British press. The Times gives the production a four-star review and calls the opera "a serious work of art" and the production "absorbing and provocative." The Guardian calls it “a major achievement,” in a four-star review, and an editorial in the same paper describes the opera as “a serious, beautiful and nuanced work that engages with one of the intractable tragedies of our era.” The Financial Times calls the piece "Adams at his best."

Randy Newman launched his month-long European tour last week with the first date in Gateshead, England; the tour continued over the weekend at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, Scotland. Friday’s show was covered in a four-star review by the Daily Telegraph, which called it “a moving and powerful experience.” In another four-star review, the Scotsman refers to Newman as “an artist whose songs and subjects remain ageless,“ and the Herald's review refers to Newman's work as "miniature symphonies of wit and wisdoms." Newman plays Royal Festival Hall in London on Tuesday evening, and continues on to Ireland and Germany.

Laurie Anderson and Björk's Biophilia app developer Scott Snibbe participate in all-day NYC event Survival of the Beautiful: Scientists and Artists Ponder the Aesthetics of Evolution ... Björk continues her NYC residency at Roseland ... ENO gives John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer its London premiere ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour the Midwest ... Philip Glass celebrates his 75th all weekend at NYC's Park Avenue Armory ... Emmylou Harris plays the HRC Equality Dinner in Nashville ... Kronos Quartet performs in New Jersey ... The Low Anthem headlines in New Hampshire ... Randy Newman tours Belgium ... Punch Brothers play the Northeast ... and more ...

John Adams's opera The Death of Klinghoffer, featuring a libretto by Alice Goodman, receives its London premiere in performances by the English National Opera starting this Saturday. Director Tom Morris (War Horse) makes his opera directing debut. Following the 1991 premiere of The Death of Klinghoffer, the New York Times said the work “transmutes contemporary history into operatic poetry.” Adams and Goodman recently spoke with BBC Radio 3's Music Matters about the opera and the controversy that surrounds it. Morris does so as well in a video you can watch here.

Philip Glass turned 75 last month and celebrated in style with birthday concerts at (Le) Poisson Rouge and Carnegie Hall. There's much more to come this weekend with the Tune-In Music Festival's Celebrating the American Icon: Philip Glass at 75, a four-day event comprising five programs at NYC's Park Avenue Armory, featuring Glass’s own music, including his landmark piece Music in Twelve Parts, as well as music, poetry, and art created and performed by those who influenced him and those whom he has influenced throughout his career.

Björk played the last of her NY Hall of Science shows of her NYC Biophilia residency last weekend and plays the first of five nights at Roseland Ballroom tomorrow. NPR's All Songs Considered spoke with app developer Max Weisel, who plays the project's custom-made instruments onstage, including musical Tesla coils. Weisel gives Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered, a tour of the stage set-up and a demonstration of how it works. Watch it here. In this week's issue of The New Yorker, Björk talks with Alex Ross about the educational component of the project for public school students.

This President's Day weekend, Punch Brothers kick off their North American tour in North Carolina and return to NYC for their record release show ... Sérgio & Odair Assad perform in Berkeley ... Björk plays final NY Hall of Science show ... Carolina Chocolate Drops head down the East Coast ... Emmylou Harris plays closing set of Warren Hellman tribute concert in San Francisco ... Dr. John closes Asian tour in Hong Kong ... Kronos Quartet, Alim Qasimov Ensemble head South ... The Low Anthem tours Canada with City and Colour ... Joshua Redman is in Istanbul ... Allen Toussaint, Trombone Shorty are in Tallahassee ... Dawn Upshaw sings with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra ... and more ... 

Steve Reich will make a rare visit to Australia this April for the launch of a new series at the Sydney Opera House called The Composers. From April 26 to 29, the House will stage The Composers: Steve Reich in Residence, featuring a workshop with students from the Flagship Sydney Youth Orchestras, a conversation at Sydney Opera House, and a culminating performance by Synergy Percussion, eighth blackbird, and others.

Carolina Chocolate Drops, whose new album, Leaving Eden, is due out February 28, are touring the US and have just added a number of new tour dates to their schedule this spring, including several headlining shows in the Midwest and down South, as well as five shows supporting the Dave Matthews Band in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts. Ticket presales are available to DMB fans starting this morning.

The Black Keys, fresh on the heels of a winter tour of Europe and in the lead-up to their North American tour, have announced a new run of European dates for this summer. The tour includes several sets at summer festivals—Way Out West, Øya, Flow, Lowlands, and Highfield—as well as headlining shows in Copenhagen and Dublin. The band performed "Lonely Boy" on Canal Plus' Le Grand Journal last night. Watch it here. The Evening Standard, reviewing their recent London show, says: "In our era of airbrushing and auto-tuning, the Ohio duo are a definitive argument for keeping things rugged and real."

Björk returned to the New York Hall of Science in Queens last night for the latest performance in her month-long NYC Biophilia residency. Although she was unable to perform last Thursday's show due to health issues, she was back in fine form at last night's concert. In appreciation of her fans’ support, Björk is adding one final show at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan on March 5. Individuals who purchased tickets for the February 9 show will be offered these tickets first in a pre-sale to begin tomorrow, Tuesday, February 14, at 10 AM. Tickets will be available to the public on Wednesday.