Composer Adam Guettel's 2005 Tony Award–winning musical The Light in the Piazza begins previews at the Balzer Theater in Atlanta tonight with Opening Night this Saturday, April 16. Presented by Theatrical Outfit, the production is directed by Richard Garner and runs through May 15. The original Broadway cast—Kelli O'Hara, Matthew Morrison, Victoria Clark—reunited at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre for a special one-night-only performance last week to benefit Lincoln Center Theater. The New York Times called the original cast album, released on Nonesuch, "sublime ... the most intensely romantic score of any Broadway musical since West Side Story."

The Brad Mehldau Trio—Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums—launches a tour of the United States and Europe ahead of the forthcoming album Blues and Ballads, due June 3. The tour begins with a concert at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston this Friday, followed by stops in Albany, Philadelphia, DC, Oberlin, and Chicago. The group then heads to Europe for shows in Italy, Belgium, Denmark, France, and Switzerland.

Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil kicked off a US tour featuring music from their new album, Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música: Multishow Live, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday. "What a pleasure it is to watch two masters at work," exclaims the Los Angeles Times music critic Mikael Wood of the "deeply satisfying concert." The two artists used "gorgeous melodies and propulsive rhythms to put across profound ideas," performing songs from their "superb" new album. As the Times headline reads, they "basically played their album in concert (and it was awesome)." The tour continues in Oakland, Miami, and Brooklyn.

Laurie Anderson will curate a day-long celebration of the work and legacy of Lou Reed as part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival in New York City. Titled The Bells: A Daylong Celebration of Lou Reed, after Reed's song "The Bells," the full day of free events will take place on Saturday, July 30, curated by Anderson with Reed's friend and longtime producer Hal Willner.

The Arcs kick off their North American spring tour at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver tonight. The "West Coast Caravan" leg of the tour also includes stops in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA, and more, plus two appearances at the Coachella festival. The band then heads eastward for shows in Denver, St. Louis, Austin, New Orleans, and more, making a final stop at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis on May 1. The band will perform at several North American festivals in July, including the just-announced Newport Folk Festival.

HBO's The Wire is the subject of two-day Columbia University conference, including a panel on its music ... Timo Andres, Gabriel Kahane close out tour at UNC Chapel Hill ... Ry Cooder, Sharon White, Ricky Skaggs are in Delaware ... Jeremy Denk plays solo in Wisconsin ... Rhiannon Giddens takes tour south to Savannah, Charlotte ... Lake Street Dive kicks off Europe tour in Antwerp, Amsterdam ... St Germain plays Detroit, Chicago ... Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil kick off US tour in LA ... and more ...

Lake Street Dive kicks off the European leg of its Side Pony tour at the Trix Club in Antwerp, Belgium, on Friday. From there, the band brings music from the new album to the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, France, the UK—including a sold-out show at Scala in London—and Ireland. The US tour resumes in May, and the group has just added several new shows in August, including dates in Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Santa Fe, Missoula, and more. Tickets for the new dates go on sale on Friday.

Rhiannon Giddens, having just completed a successful tour of Australia, kicked off the next leg of her US tour with a free show at the Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire last night. The tour, which features songs from her solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, continues through the month of April with concerts in Maryland, Georgia, and Virginia; multiple shows in her home state of North Carolina; and a set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. The tour culminates in a taping of Austin City Limits on April 25. Giddens's recent concert at Infinity Hall in Connecticut will air on the series Infinity Hall Live starting this Friday, April 8.

St Germain kicks off a North American tour featuring music from his new, self-titled album with a performance at Webster Hall in New York City on Saturday. The tour continues for the next three weeks with shows in Boston, Montreal, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, and more; KCRW calls him "a must see at this year's Coachella" festival.

Kronos Quartet joins NYC David Bowie tribute at Radio City, premieres new pieces at Carnegie Hall ... Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly are at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville… Timo Andres debuts new music in Denver … Ry Cooder heads south to Florida, Georgia … Jeremy Denk performs solo in Boston … Joshua Redman concludes European tour in Spain … St Germain launches North American tour in NYC ... and more ...

The line-up for American Acoustic with Chris Thile, a four-day festival curated by Thile at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, June 22–25, 2016, has been announced. The event features collaborations between Thile and performers including Punch Brothers, Michael Daves, Edgar Meyer, Gabriel Kahane, Béla Fleck, Julian Lage, Merrill Garbus, and I'm With Her (Sara Watkins, Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Jarosz). Tickets go on sale to Kennedy Center Members on Monday, April 4, and to the general public on Thursday, April 7.

The 2016 Big Ears Festival gets under way in Knoxville, Tennessee, today, and featured among the performers are several artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Laurie Anderson and Philip Glass, Olivia Chaney, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly, and Bombino. Big Ears will be held at venues throughout downtown Knoxville through Saturday.