Composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski, whom music critic Mark Swed once called "the greatest pianist-composer of our time," has died at the age of 83. Emerging in the 1960s with the improv collective Music Elettronica Viva, the expatriate American composer spent his entire career apart from what he described as the “elitist contemporary music establishment,” and established his own unique compositional style in which improvisation and composition are inextricably linked. In 2002, Nonesuch Records released Rzewski Plays Rzewski: Piano Works 1975-1999, a seven-disc, 25-year retrospective of his piano-based work with new recordings performed by the composer.

Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, an album of songs written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion, is out now.With Shaw on vocals and Sō filling out this new band, they developed songs in the studio, with lyrics inspired by their own wide-ranging interests: James Joyce, the Sacred Harp hymnal, a poem by Anne Carson, the Bible's Book of Ruth, the American roots tune "I'll Fly Away," ABBA's "Lay All Your Love on Me," and more. To coincide with the album's release, the artists have released a video of them performing their take on the ABBA tune; you can watch it here.

k.d. lang and country artist/songwriter Orville Peck release "Miss Chatelaine (Iron Hoof Remix)" on Nonesuch Records today, for Pride Month. After working on makeover, her new collection of classic dance remixes from 1992 to 2000, k.d. lang reached out to country artist/songwriter Orville Peck to remix her 1992 hit "Miss Chatelaine." The result "marries his music with my own beautifully," she says. "I wanted to give him total creative freedom to do whatever he wanted with it and now I’m thrilled with the end result." "I've always been such a huge fan of k.d.'s," Peck says. "Not only is she a queer icon but an incredible musician who blazed a lot of trails. I was so honored when she asked me to remix the song and couldn't wait to put my own spin on it."

Jeremy Denk’s Mozart Piano Concertos will be released September 17 on Nonesuch Records. Denk is joined by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for two Mozart concertos—No. 25 in C Major, K. 503 and No. 20 in D minor, K. 466—bookending the composer’s solo Rondo in A minor, K. 511. The second movement from K. 466, the Romance, is available now.

Rhiannon Giddens has announced the first two of four planned picture books she will publish with Candlewick Press and the Walker Books Group. Representing her publishing debut and showcasing the illustrative talents of emerging Black artists Monica Mikai and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu, the new picture books—Build a House (2022) and We Could Fly (2023)—will extend her artistic project to young readers and their families. "I'm so excited to get to explore a different way to tell the stories I’ve been trying to highlight with my songs and my music," Giddens says. 

Congratulations to David Byrne’s American Utopia, which will receive a Special Tony Award for the 2019–2020 Broadway season. Special Tony Awards are presented to outstanding productions, artists, and organizations that do not fall into any of the competitive categories. This year's two other recipients are the anti-racism advocacy organization Broadway Advocacy Coalition and the show Freestyle Love Supreme. The 74th Tony Awards will be presented on Sunday, September 26, on Paramount+.

Chris Thile has released a new video of him performing "Dionysus," a song from his new solo album, Laysongs, filmed live in Brooklyn. You can watch the video, made by Benjamin Miller, here. Thile has two solo concerts in upstate New York this weekend, with more shows ahead this summer and a fall tour to come.

The Black Keys have released a new video of the band performing "Going Down South," from their new album, Delta Kream, live from Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville this past spring. Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney are joined by Kenny Brown on guitar and Eric Deaton on bass, both long-time members of the bands of blues legends including R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. You can watch it here.

In honor of Juneteenth and Black Music Month, Rhiannon Giddens is the guest on the latest episode of Topsify's BLK in America podcast. She talks with host Dr. Maurice Stinnett about growing up Black in America and shares some songs that inspire her. "It was my discovery of the music of North Carolina and what sort of became my life's mission that helped me figure out my identity." You can watch their conversation and listen to a playlist Giddens put together for the discussion here.

Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion have released "Other Song," from their upcoming album, Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, and a video for it by Maureen Towey. The video was shot at Rise and Root Farm, a five-acre farm in New York’s Hudson Valley rooted in social justice and run cooperatively by four owners who are women, intergenerational, multi-racial, and LGBTQ; one of the owners, Karen Washington, is featured in the video. You can watch it here. Shaw says of the track: “I had these bits of ‘Other Song,’ so I made this abstract reduction, with a verse-chorus structure and a wild build in the middle. The prompt for all of us was: what would we make in the room together if there were no single person in charge, the way a band writes in the studio?”

David Byrne’s American Utopia will return to Broadway this fall at the St. James Theatre, with the full original band, from September 17. "It is with great pleasure that finally, after a year+ like no other, I can announce that our show is coming back to Broadway," says Byrne. "You who kept the faith, who held on to your tickets, well, you knew this would happen eventually! September 17, remount previews begin. We’re moving to the St. James Theatre, just down 44th Street from the Hudson, where we were before. The stage is a little wider and the capacity is a little bigger—I guess we did alright! Seriously, New York is back, and given all we’ve witnessed, felt, and experienced, it is obvious to me that no one wants to go back to a world with EVERYTHING the way it was—we have an opportunity for a new world here. See you there.”

Riz Ahmed, star of the Academy Award–winning film Sound of Metal, is the guest on the latest episode of percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie's podcast. He talks with Glennie about the film, in which he plays a punk-metal drummer who begins to unravel when he suddenly loses his hearing and identity. Glennie performs on the film's soundtrack, featuring a score by Abraham Marder and Nicolas Becker, which was released on Nonesuch Records in April. You can hear their conversation here.