Haitian-American singer and composer Nathalie Joachim took part in an event at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC last night titled Creole Histories with novelist Edwidge Danticat and poet Canisia Lubrin, in which Joachim shared stories and songs from her new album, Ki moun ou ye. Prior to the event, she had curated a Spotify playlist for MoMA of songs that connect to the creation of the album, with music by Björk, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and others. You can hear it here. 

Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) has shared "Hawkmoon," a song from their new album, The Past Is Still Alive, out on Friday. It's a rebellious road song and stirring remembrance of the first trans woman they ever met: a poet, punk, and fellow traveler named Miss Jonathan. The track arrives with a heist film of a music video, shot along the desolate highways and dusty deserts of the small New Mexican town Tucumcari, starring Segarra and writer, actor, and musician Denny. You can watch the video, directed by Jeff Perlman, here.

"This song is about balancing all the intricate parts and many faces of self and womanhood and the feelings of doubt that come from containing these multitudes," The Staves say of "I'll Never Leave You Alone," the new song from the upcoming album, All Now. "It’s about learning to navigate and live with them. To make friends with your doubt and with yourself." The Staves conclude their tour as special guests of Nickel Creek in Jacksonville tonight and begin their own US headline tour in Washington, DC, on April 7.

The Metropolitan Opera has announced its 2024–25 season, including the Met premiere of John Adams's latest opera, Antony and Cleopatra, on May 12, 2025. The adaptation of Shakespeare’s drama stars soprano Julia Bullock, following her company debut in Adams’s El Niño this April, as Cleopatra, opposite bass-baritone Gerald Finley’s Antony. Adams himself conducts a new staging by director Elkhanah Pulitzer, who transports the story from ancient Rome to the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s. Performances run through June 7, 2025. 

Ahead of their concert at Barbican Hall in London on Wednesday, Rhiannon Giddens and her band were on BBC Radio 4's Front Row to talk with presenter Tom Sutcliffe about her new album, You're the One, and perform two songs from it live in the studio: "If You Don't Know How Sweet It Is" and "Yet to Be." You can hear the conversation and performances here.

Ahead of their concerts in Germany this weekend, Rhiannon Giddens and her band were on ARD-Morgenmagazin, the morning show of ARD's flagship television channel, Das Erste, to perform "Yet to Be," a song from her new album, You're the One. "Rhiannon Giddens is a musical exception: trained opera singer, composer, vocalist, virtuoso on the banjo and many other instruments," says the show. "The Pulitzer Prize winner knows no subject or genre boundaries." You can watch it here.

The second album from Haitian-American singer and composer Nathalie Joachim, Ki moun ou ye, is out now on Nonesuch / New Amsterdam Records. On the album, Joachim takes listeners through an intimate collection of music that ponders its title’s question: “Who are you?” Inspired by the remote Caribbean farmland that her family continues to call home after seven generations and performed in both English and Haitian Creole, the work examines the richness of one’s voice—an instrument that brings with it DNA, ancestry, and identity—in a vibrant tapestry of Joachim’s voice, and intricately sampled vocal textures underscored by an acoustic instrumental ensemble. "On her dazzling new album," says Bandcamp, "she's found an outlet that allows her to express the full diapason of her interests and creativity." The Quietus exclaims: "Joachim’s powerful voice provides the thread that binds together a glorious tapestry."

Kronos Quartet’s award-winning 1990 album Black Angels is now available on vinyl to coincide with Kronos Quartet: Five Decades, a year-long celebration of the quartet’s 50th anniversary, and Nonesuch Records' 60th anniversary. First released in 1990, the album features George Crumb’s title piece, which inspired David Harrington to found the quartet in 1973, and works by Charles Ives, István Márta, Thomas Tallis, and Dmitri Shostakovich. The fourth side of the vinyl is an etching of an illustration created especially for this purpose by Matt Mahurin, whose work is featured on the original album cover. The Evening Standard included Black Angels among its “100 Definitive Classical Albums of the 20th Century.”

This President's Day weekend in the United States, Cécile McLorin Salvant is in Georgia and Florida. Jeremy Denk performs Bach in Burlington. Rhiannon Giddens tours Germany, with shows in Hamburg, Berlin, and Cologne. Richard Goode performs Beethoven in Fresno. Mary Halvorson is at Roulette in Brooklyn. Makaya McCraven is in Saratoga Springs and Brattleboro. Mandy Patinkin is in Arizona, performing in Mesa and Tucson. The Staves join Nickel Creek in Indiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

"Brad Mehldau stands as a beacon of innovation in the jazz world, intertwining the richness of classical music with the spontaneity of jazz to create a sound uniquely his own," Rick Beato says of his guest on Everything Music. "Mehldau has carved out a niche for himself not just as a pianist of exceptional skill and depth but also as a composer who likes to explore and blend genres. His ability to traverse musical landscapes—from the works of Bach to the songs of Radiohead—has not only garnered him critical acclaim but also a dedicated following ... Needless to say I’m a huge fan of Brad‘s music." You can watch their conversation with musical examples from Mehldau at the piano here.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, fresh off their second consecutive GRAMMY win for Best Bluegrass Album last week, for City of Gold, have announced their "Down the Rabbit Hole" US tour this spring and summer. The dates begin April 18 and run through June with stops in Atlanta, Memphis, Milwaukee, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Omaha, St. Louis, and more. The new shows follow the band’s Big Ears Festival set next month and coincide with stops at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Mandy Patinkin and his wife Kathryn Grody were on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday with their son Gideon Grody-Patinkin to talk with host Scott Simon about what Simon calls the "sweet little interrogations of his parents" Gideon first posted to social media during the pandemic and which have offered viewers a glimpse into their lives together. So much so that the family will be in conversation together on stage in North Bethesda on Valentine's Day and New London on April 14, around the ongoing dates for Patinkin's own concert tour. You can hear their conversation with Simon here.