Rhiannon Giddens will star as Bess in Greensboro Opera's production of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess in 2020. The performances will take place at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in her hometown of Greensboro, NC, on November 13 and 15, 2020, the company's inaugural season in the new venue. Giddens was in Greensboro last weekend as the guest curator of and a performer at the North Carolina Folk Festival. She performs in upstate New York this week and at the FreshGrass Festival at MASS MoCA this weekend.

Rhiannon Giddens guest curates and performs at North Carolina Folk Festival … David Byrne brings American Utopia to Northeast … Jeremy Denk joins Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for Beethoven … Tigran Hamasyan performs in Japan … Gabriel Kahane launches Book of Travelers tour … The Gospel at Colonus is in NYC's Central Park … Kronos Quartet is in Italy, Latvia … Lake Street Dive is out West … k.d. lang takes Ingénue to Florida … Robert Plant plays St. Louis … Punch Brothers are All Ashore in Midwest ...

k.d. lang begins the Southern US leg of her Ingénue Redux Tour on Friday, performing her 1992 platinum-selling record, Ingénue, plus songs from her 2004 album, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, in cities across Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. The Americana Music Association will present her with its 2018 Americana Trailblazer Award as part of the Americana Honors & Awards at the Ryman in Nashville next Wednesday, September 12. She will perform a headline show at the historic venue as part of her tour the following Sunday.

This Labor Day Weekend, Brad Mehldau gives the world premiere performance of his Piano Concerto at Philharmonie de Paris … Fleet Foxes conclude tour with hometown set at Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle … Tigran Hamasyan Trio starts Japan tour in Tokyo … Gabriel Kahane joins Oregon Symphony for his new oratorio ... Kronos Quartet performs in Poland … Lake Street Dive takes Free Yourself Up tour to Midwest …

Mandy Patinkin, who released the first in a series of musical installments with pianist/producer Thomas Bartlett, Diary: January 27, 2018, in April, will perform music from the series with pianist Adam Ben David on the Diaries 2018 tour, starting with a nine-concert run in NYC's East Village in October. The tour heads west in November for performances in Palo Alto and Honolulu, then to Australia for shows in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. "Singing onstage is one of the great joys of my life," says Patinkin, "so I'm back on the boards."

David Byrne and Punch Brothers take their tours to Southern California this weekend: Byrne's American Utopia is in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, and Punch Brothers' All Ashore is in Los Angeles and San Diego. Across the country, Timo Andres gives a two-piano concert with David Kaplan at the Ravinia Festival outside Chicago.

Olivia Chaney closes out her US summer tour in Los Angeles tonight. She performs songs from her new album, Shelter, as she did at Hoxton Hall in London back in June when the album was released. You can now watch her perform "Roman Holiday" and "House on a Hill" from that show, joined by Jordan Hunt and Chris Vatalaro, in the video here, directed by Bobby Williams.

Rhiannon Giddens's program as a performer at and guest curator of the 2018 North Carolina Folk Festival has been announced. The free event takes place in her hometown of Greensboro, September 7–9. Giddens's program includes a performance and discussion with public school students; an evening of jazz, spoken word, and tap dance; a symposium and a workshop on banjo cultures and traditions; a performance on the roots of American dance; a concert of songs from Giddens's Nonesuch albums; and more.

Mountain Man embarks on a fourteen-city US tour—its first in six years—this October, following the release of the acclaimed band's first album in eight years, Magic Ship, on September 21, 2018. The tour starts in Washington, DC, on October 22 and runs through November 17, making stops in Brooklyn, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and more. A new visual for the album track "Window" can now be seen here.

Randy Newman, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra perform 50 years of his music … Sam Amidon makes Bard College Spiegeltent debut ... David Byrne brings American Utopia to Midwest … Olivia Chaney heads from Minneapolis to West Coast … Fleet Foxes tour Scandinavia … Rhiannon Giddens is at Wolf Trap … Punch Brothers are All Ashore in Detroit, St. Paul … Joshua Redman is in upstate New York … Rokia Traoré performs Né So in Malmö …

Brad Mehldau brought music from his album After Bach to the Philharmonie de Paris this spring for a full concert that can be seen here via ARTE. "Brad Mehldau is one of the most influential jazzmen of the last twenty years," says the Philharmonie. "For this exceptional program, he departs from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier to develop his own compositions ... This offering by Mehldau is unlike any other."

Punch Brothers play NYC's Beacon Theatre, CBS This Morning Saturday … John Adams's Doctor Atomic is performed at Santa Fe Opera … David Byrne, Fleet Foxes play Panorama NYC Music Festival … Olivia Chaney tours Boston, New York … Rhiannon Giddens is in Virginia … Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, Rajasthan Express perform Junun in Boston … Brad Mehldau Trio concludes European tour in Marciac … Natalie Merchant continues sold-out UK tour … Robert Plant plays Italy, Germany … Joshua Redman is in Belgium … Rostam plays Newport Folk Fest … and more …