Jeremy Denk led the third and final event of Bach's Well-Tempered Lens, his online series for WNYC/WQXR's The Greene Space in NYC, with "How to Think Like Bach." From his barn in upstate New York, Denk performed pieces by Bach and led a distanced discussion about what happens to our brains when we listen to the composer's work, joined by neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, music therapist Concetta Tomaino, and longtime recital partner cellist Steven Isserlis for performance and conversation. You can watch it here.

Lake Street Dive led Volume 2 of its Lounge Around Sounds Variety Hour of music and laughter, joined for this episode by special guest Emily King. It was an hour of pay-what-you-can fun, with a portion of the proceeds going on King's behalf to City Harvest, which rescues food in NYC to feed neighbors in need. You can watch it all here, and keep the lounging going afterwards with new Lounge Around Sounds merch from the Lake Street Dive Store.

Rhiannon Giddens has released a cover of Bill Withers' “Just the Two of Us" featuring Sxip Shirey. The video, which you can watch here, features photos and videos taken by friends and family in quarantine, and workers in the UNC and NY-Presbyterian healthcare systems. Proceeds go to Global Giving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. You can also watch her performance with Francesco Turrisi on The Bluegrass Situation's Whiskey Sour Happy Hour.

Randy Newman was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from home to perform his new song, "Stay Away," a public service announcement for social distancing. "People are saying it's the greatest song ever written or that they've heard," Newman quips. "A lot of people are saying it. I'm not; it's they who are saying it." You can watch it here. Proceeds from the song support the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans.

Lianne La Havas spoke with Genius' Verified series about "Bittersweet," the first single off her forthcoming self-titled album, due July 17 on Nonesuch Records. You can watch it here. "In the context of the whole album," she says, "it's kind of the overview of reconnecting with yourself and realizing that you may have to change something dramatically in your life to make yourself happier and to get more fulfillment from your life. It's basically about realizing that something needs to change, and then taking the steps to do so."

The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—have released a new song, "Father," from their upcoming album, RoundAgain, due July 10. You can download the track, along with the previously released track "Right Back Round Again," when you pre-order the album, and watch the group perform the Mehldau tune live back in September, in a newly released video directed by Matthew Beighley, here.

British singer/songwriter/guitarist Lianne La Havas releases Lianne La Havas, her first album since 2015’s Blood, July 17 on Nonesuch in the US. La Havas performed the new album track "Paper Thin," along with the previously released album track “Bittersweet” and “Midnight” from Blood in a NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert, which also premiered today and can be seen here. Lianne La Havas is available to pre-order on limited-edition clear vinyl, standard vinyl, and CD in the Nonesuch Store.

Laurie Anderson was celebrated at Joe's Pub's 2020 Vanguard Gala event back in February. That concert, in which artists and friends perform music from throughout her career, premiered last night as part of the Joe's Pub Live! From the Archives series and can be seen here. Under the music direction of Shara Nova (of My Brightest Diamond), the evening featured performances by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carl Hancock Rux, Theo Bleckmann, Colin Stetson, Nona Hendryx, Christina Courtin, Joan as Police Woman, Meshell Ndegeocello, and many others.

Timo Andres's performance of Philip Glass's Evening Song No. 2, from the forthcoming album, I Still Play, is now available. You can follow along in the score as Andres performs it in the new video here. Evening Song No. 2 is one of eleven new solo piano compositions by artists who have recorded for Nonesuch Records, written in honor of the label’s longtime President Bob Hurwitz as he became Chairman Emeritus in 2017, performed by Andres, Brad Mehldau, Randy Newman, and Jeremy Denk.

Daughter of Swords—aka Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig—gave a Tiny Desk Concert for the staff of NPR back in February. She performed songs from her debut solo album, Dawnbreaker—"Long Leaf Pine" and "Shining Woman"—as well as her Jeff Tweedy–produced single "Prairie Winter Wasteland." "Between the rustic sweetness of the arrangements and Sauser-Monnig's between-song banter," says NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, "Daughter of Swords' set doubles as a fine way to trick your doctor into not prescribing blood-pressure medication. In anxious times, it'll settle you right down." You can watch it here. She has also released a new single, a cover of the hymn "What Wondrous Love Is This?," and has launched a Patreon.

Jeremy Denk led the second event of Bach's Well-Tempered Lens, a three-part online series for WNYC/WQXR's The Greene Space in NYC, with "The Mysterious Life of J.S. Bach." From his barn in upstate New York, Denk leads a distanced discussion of the person behind the music with Bach scholar and author Daniel R. Melamed, composer Melinda Wagner, New Yorker staff writer James Wood, and composer/pianist (and fellow Nonesuch artist) Timo Andres. You can watch it here.

Stephen Sondheim, who turned 90 on March 22, was given a birthday celebration to remember when scores of artists came together, virtually, to perform his songs on Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration last night. The two-plus-hour event, a benefit for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty), was hosted by Raúl Esparza and includes performances and birthday wishes from Esparza, Mandy Patinkin, Audra McDonald, Meryl Streep, Patti LuPone, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Lane, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Benanti, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Donna Murphy, Alexander Gemignani, and so many more. You can watch it here.