Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters have announced a tour of the American South for this March. The tour kicks off at the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival on March 4 and includes additional stops in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, culminating in a show at ACL Live at Moody Theater in Austin. "I'm always eager to return to the hospitality of the Southern states," Plant said. "Towns and cities that hold fond memories for me personally, places that gave birth to so much of the music I love." Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 15.

Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog will receive its HBO premiere on April 25. The film is still playing at theaters across the US, having landed on a number of year's best lists, including those of the New York Times and New York magazine. A unique three-minute version of the film is showing on Times Square's electronic billboards each night this month starting at 11:57 PM as part of Midnight Moments. Hear Laurie Anderson's recent interview with BBC Radio 6 Music's Mary Anne Hobbs here.

The Nonesuch Journal continues its five-part video series marking the forthcoming release of Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective and the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, by hearing from Adrian Thomas, the author of the book Górecki and of the liner notes for the new recording. "What you get in this Fourth Symphony is pretty much the widest range of Henryk's character," says Thomas. "I think he had very broad interests in terms of what constitutes the mind, what constitutes the spirit, what constitutes the soul, and that can involve earthy things as well as ethereal things, and this is what you get in the Fourth Symphony." Watch the interview here.

Yesterday, the Nonesuch Journal began a five-part series of videos marking the forthcoming release of the seven-disc box set Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective with the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, on Friday, January 22. Today, Górecki’s son, composer Mikolaj, who completed Symphony No. 4 after his father’s death, discusses the piece; his relationship with his father as son and pupil; and his efforts to complete the piece after the precise indications for orchestration his father had left in the score.

A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House, with President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and performances from Audra McDonald and a host of fellow artists, premieres on PBS stations across the US tonight at 9 PM ET. The performances commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. McDonald's portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill will premiere on HBO on March 12. She will take part in an all-star tribute to Lena Horne at Symphony Space in NYC this Tuesday and lead two shows at the Leicester Square Theatre in London on January 17. Audra McDonald returns to Broadway in Shuffle Along this spring; previews begin March 15.

The Arcs have written, recorded, and released a new track, "Lake Superior," inspired by the case of Steven Avery examined in the new Netflix documentary Making a Murderer. You can hear it here. "It's like Billy Childish says, 'We live in troubled times,'" writes the band. "Last week, we got a sneak peek at what goes on behind the curtains of our criminal justice system. A few sleepless nights later we gathered in the studio and wrote this song. Written, recorded, mixed and mastered in 2 days." The band has made the track available to download, with proceeds going to the Innocence Project.

Rhiannon Giddens helped ring in the New Year with a performance on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny. She gives her always show-stopping performance of "Waterboy" and of the Sister Rosetta Tharpe tune "Up Above My Head," from her solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn. The show aired in the UK on BBC Two on New Year's Eve. You can now watch Giddens's two performance here for a limited time. Giddens was a guest on BBC Radio Scotland's Another Country with Ricky Ross in advance of her European tour, which begins later this month.

Nonesuch Records releases Henryk Górecki: A Nonesuch Retrospective, a seven-disc box set containing all of the Nonesuch recordings of Górecki works, as well as the first recording of the late composer's final work, Symphony No. 4, Tansman Episodes, on January 22. That day also brings the first vinyl LP of the 1992 Nonesuch recording of Górecki’s Symphony No. 3. In advance of these releases, the Nonesuch Journal presents a series of related videos, starting today with a 1992 interview with the composer about his beloved Symphony No. 3. Watch it here, and check back in the days ahead for interviews with key players in the recording of Fourth and more.

Laurie Anderson has been named the Guest Director for the Brighton Festival, England's largest annual curated multi-arts festival, May 7–29, 2016. She takes the helm in a milestone year for Brighton Festival as in 2016 it marks its 50th year. "I'm so happy to be serving as Guest Director of Brighton Festival in its historic 50th year," Anderson says. "Our theme of home and place is especially relevant with so many people in the world on the move now looking, like all of us, for a place we can belong. I've been part of the Festival several times and it was exciting to watch the city become the heart of so much art. I'm looking forward to being part of it this year." The 50th Brighton Festival will feature new works from Laurie Anderson alongside exclusives, world and UK premieres from a wide range of international, national and local artists and companies.

The line-up for the 2016 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has been announced, and among the artists performing are The Arcs, St Germain, and Mbongwana Star. Coachella is held at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California, and will take place over two weekends, April 15–17 and April 22–24, with The Arcs performing each Saturday, April 16 and 23, and St Germain and Mbongwana Star performing each Friday, April 15 and 22. Passes go on sale Wednesday, January 6, at 11 AM PST.

Nonesuch President Bob Hurwitz was featured on the NPR program Here & Now last week. He spoke with show co-host Robin Young about his more than three decades as head of the label and shares his perspective on the unique artists with whom he has worked over those years. "The rarest thing is when you hear someone who is doing something you have never heard before, and you love it," says Hurwitz. "And then it's a kind of instant reaction, almost like falling in love." You can hear the Here & Now piece, which includes music from several of those artists, here.

As 2015 draws to a close, and the Nonesuch Journal takes a bit of a hiatus till the start of 2016, it's time to take a look back and remember all of the great and diverse music made by Nonesuch artists over the past year. Many Nonesuch artists and their recent Nonesuch releases have made music critics' and fans' year-end best lists. Here, in words and music and in chronological order, is a look back at the year in Nonesuch music.