Nonesuch artists converge on Chicago with The Low Anthem, Magnetic Fields, Mandy Patinkin, Punch Brothers all in town Sunday; Carolina Chocolate Drops, just there, play not far in Rockford ... John Adams is in focus at the Barbican ... Laurie Anderson talks astrophysics at NYC's Rubin Museum ... Vinicio Capossela launches US tour in NYC ... Christina Courtin closes Mike Doughty tour in California ... Bill Frisell Trio plays Boston ... Natalie Merchant judges poetry ... Pat Metheny continues Europe tour ... Joshua Redman is in LA ... Stephen Sondheim converses in Minneapolis ... Allen Toussaint, Blind Boys of Alabama play LA ... Sara Watkins performs in Paducah ...

Punch Brothers play Paducah ... Alarm Will Sound joins Dirty Projectors in LA ... Laurie Anderson does Delusion at Williams College ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tour the Midwest ... Christina Courtin opens in Arizona ... Bill Frisell's at Blue Note ... Richard Goode is in Italy ... Kronos completes four nights in SF ... Low Anthem opens for Avett Brothers ... Magnetic Fields do Noise Pop ... Pat Metheny plays Poland, where Orchestrion is gold ... Joshua Redman opens SFJazz spring season ... Wilco conquers Quebec ... and more ...

Randy Newman spends an evening at Royce Hall ... Alarm Will Sound supports Dirty Projectors at the Allen Room ... Laurie Anderson is in Vancouver's Cultural Olympiad ... Colvin keeps close to home in Austin ... Courtin tours with Mike Doughty ... Frisell is in Austria with Iva Bittová ... Glass talks Brainwaves ... Goode joins NDR Symphony in Hamburg ... Magnetic Fields play Portland ... Metheny stops in Spain ... Punch Brothers play the South ... Redman Trio plays outside DC ... Sara Watkins opens for John Prine ... Wilco plays sold-out trifecta ... and more ...

The Magnetic Fields takes its "delicate, sublime sound" (Boston Herald) to sold-out set at BAM ... Shawn Colvin sings in Southern California ... Robin Holcomb scores a silent film in NYC ... Kronos Quartet, Wu Man play A Chinese Home in snow-covered Maryland ... Natalie Merchant confers at TED ... Pat Metheny plays Paris ... Mandy Patinkin, Patti Lupone continue "can't miss" show (Toronto Star) in Toronto ... Punch Brothers play the Midwest ... Allen Toussaint takes "Southern Nights" to Northern Lights ... Wilco plays free set for Vancouver Olympic Winter Games ... 

The Magnetic Fields cross into Canada ... Carolina Chocolate Drops close out UK tour ... Christina Courtin opens for Josh Rouse in NYC, Philly ... Bill Frisell unveils his Baghdad/Seattle Suite in Minneapolis ... Richard Goode, Jonathan Biss give duo recital in Boston ... Kronos performs in Chicago, New Jersey ... The Low Anthem continues European tour ... Brad Mehldau goes solo at Harvard ... Pat Metheny sets up in Scandinavia ... Punch Brothers play benefit in LA ... Joshua Redman's James Farm plays Istanbul, Milan ... Sara Watkins winds down UK tour ... Wilco kicks off world tour in Montana ... and more ...

Grammy Weekend is here with Wilco, Allen Toussaint, Shawn Colvin, Amadou & Mariam, and Oumou Sangare up for awards; Wilco, Emmylou Harris, and k.d. lang celebrate Neil Young in concert ... Kronos Quartet, Tanya Tagaq perform for Vancouver Cultural Olympiad ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tours UK ... Christina Courtin plays acoustic at NYC's Rubin Museum ... Low Anthem tours Benelux ... Pat Metheny unveils Orchestrion in France ... Mandy Patinkin premieres new play at Yale Rep ... Sara Watkins goes Transatlantic at Celtic Connections ... and more ...

Chris Thile's Mandolin Concerto gets its California premiere ... Carolina Chocolate Drops concludes the first leg of its US tour ... Bill Frisell Trio plays the Pacific Northwest ... Richard Goode plays Bach, Haydn, Schumann in San Francisco ... Glenn Kotche joins Bang on a Can All-Stars at Emory ... NPR's Fresh Air remembers Kate McGarrigle ... Brad Mehldau performs two solo sets in California ... Stephen Sondheim revisits his alma mater, Williams College, to talk with Frank Rich ... and more ...

NY Phil performs Adams's The Wound-Dresser ... Laurie Anderson previews new piece at MASS MoCA ... Carolina Chocolate Drops bring "electrifying show" to Dartmouth, Birchmere ... Richard Goode gives free concert in Florida ... Kronos Quartet gives West Coast premiere of A Chinese Home at Stanford ... The Low Anthem joins Dave Douglas for NY's Festival of New Trumpet Music ... Punch Brothers play three shows in Colorado ... Joshua Redman's new quartet plays Paris ... and more ...

The Low Anthem performs in Boston to benefit the Red Sox Foundation's Foundation to Be Named Later ... Carolina Chocolate Drops kick off tour in Georgia and South Carolina ... Steve Reich joins So Percussion for Clapping Music at Stanford ... Allen Toussaint plays Kansas City and debuts on Austin City Limits ... Sara Watkins returns to A Prairie Home Companion ... and more ...

John Adams leads El Niño with Dawn Upshaw at Carnegie Hall ... Amadou & Mariam play the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo ... the Assads stop by A Prairie Home Companion live in NY ... Christina Courtin plays NY's Rockwood Music Hall ... Philip Glass is solo in Istanbul ... Emmylou Harris supports Epilepsy Foundation in Nashville ... Kronos reunites with Joan Jeanrenaud in Berkeley ... Brad Mehldau joins Haden, Konitz, Motian at Birdland ... Joshua Redman plays with James Farm in Philly ... Sara Watkins joins Grant Lee Phillips in LA ... and more ...

Steve Reich unveils Mallet Quartet in Budapest ... John Adams-curated LA Phil fest continues with Kronos, Brian Wilson ... Christina Courtin plays two shows in Brooklyn ... Richard Goode performs Beethoven with Iván Fischer, Cleveland Orchestra ... Low Anthem closes Josh Ritter mini-tour ... Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau National Christmas Tree Lighting set airs on PBS ... Punch Brothers play Prairie Home Companion ... Sara Watkins joins Tom Brosseau at Largo ... and more ...

Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe bring "exceptional" show to Brisbane ... Dan Auerbach ends tour in Tennessee ... David Byrne discusses Jung at NY's Rubin Museum ... Carolina Chocolate Drops close tour in South Carolina ... Philip Glass talks Kepler at BAM ... Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller bring show to Boulder ... Kronos kicks of Adams-curated fest in LA ... Low Anthem, Natalie Merchant cross paths at Crossing Border in Holland ... Brad Mehldau flies solo in Serbia ... Joshua Redman plays Padova ... Sara Watkins joins Infamous Stringdusters in North Carolina ... and more ...