April 13, 2008, marked the 70th birthday of composer Frederic Rzewski, who, in 2002, performed his own works for piano on a seven-disc collection, Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works, 1975-1999, released by Nonesuch. This week, the composer will celebrate with three special concert events: tonight and tomorrow as part of the renowned Gilmore Keyboard Festival and this Thursday in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in New York. The New York Times writes of the 2002 collection that, for all of Rzewski's "anarchic streak," both humorous and political, "what emerges above all is a picture of a pianist enamored of his instrument as handed down by the master builders of the 19th century."

Steve Reich will be the featured guest today on The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC, 93.9 FM. The composer will discuss his new album, Daniel Variations, and its title piece, written in memory of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The show also includes an interview with filmmaker Errol Morris about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

On Saturday night, a performance of Steve Reich's Drumming marked the culmination of percussionist Colin Currie's residency at the Horsecross Concert Hall in Perth, Scotland, and rated five stars in the Herald (Scotland). The paper's music critic Michael Tumelty says that the "mind-bogglingly virtuosic" musicians Currie gathered to perform the 1970-71 piece with him offered a "staggering musical experience" and "a stunning, dramatic version of Drumming." The event, concludes Tumelty, "was a tour de force for Currie, as organiser and player."

The San Francisco Ballet celebrates its 75th anniversary season in 2008, and the final programs are anything but a look backwards. The season comes to a close with the forward-looking New Works Festival, which features Mark Morris's Joyride, set to John Adams's Son of a Chamber Symphony, that "lived up to the buzz," says the San Francisco Chronicle, plus works set to Nonesuch recordings by Kronos Quartet and Gidon Kremer.

Information on just some of the many events going on this weekend across the globe featuring Nonesuch artists. Enjoy!

Nicholas Payton spoke with WBGO producer Josh Jackson fresh from recording his Nonesuch debut, Into the Blue. With the album out this week, the show is now available at npr.org as part of the Favorite Sessions series, on which public radio hosts present their favorite in-studio sessions. "I'm always looking for unique moments, times and places when musicians are creating at a high level, and try to bring those moments to anyone who will listen," says Jackson. "This was the moment to get them," he says of Payton and the band. "The iron was hot."