Natalie Merchant will be joined by The School of Life Founder and philosopher Alain de Botton for an evening of conversation and music at Shoreditch Town Hall in London on Thursday, May 15. The two will discuss the inspirations for the songs on her new, self-titled album, due May 5 on Nonesuch Records, and Merchant will offer a selection of live musical illustrations. Merchant will perform two sold-out concerts in London in May and join fellow Nonesuch artists for a sold-out concert there later that month.

The film of Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of "Inside Llewyn Davis," which captures a one-night-only concert presented by T Bone Burnett and Joel and Ethan Coen at New York City’s Town Hall to celebrate the music of the new Coen brothers film, is now available to purchase on iTunes. Watch the trailer here. Nonesuch Records will release a live album from the concert later this year (details to follow).

Audra McDonald was a special guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC last night. The five-time Tony Award winner stopped by the studio to help Fallon out on a Suggestion Box request to give voice to some sage Yahoo! Answers in her own inimitable way. Watch the segment here. McDonald returns to Broadway this spring to take on the role of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Tickets are on sale now.

Nonesuch celebrates Kronos Quartet, long known as interpreters of music from around the world, in its 40th anniversary year with two releases: Kronos Explorer Series, a box set of five classic albums from five different parts of the world, and A Thousand Thoughts, a new album that looks at Kronos’s geographically wide-ranging sources, featuring music from 14 different countries. Both will be available on April 8, 2014 (international release April 21), and are available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store; pre-orders of A Thousand Thoughts include an instant download of Sim Shalom, which you can hear here. Kronos continues its anniversary celebration with UCLA concerts on March 14 and 15, and a Carnegie Hall concert on March 28.

Nonesuch releases composer Jacob Cooper’s label debut, Silver Threads, on April 29, 2014. The album comprises a six-song cycle performed by soprano Mellissa Hughes. Cooper wrote the title track for Hughes in 2011, setting a haiku attributed to Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō for voice and electronic track. To expand it into a full cycle (for voice and track), he enlisted five other poets to write text inspired by the haiku. Nonesuch Store preorders include an instant download of the title track. Hughes performs selections from Silver Threads in NYC as part of her March 20 Lincoln Center American Songbook concert. 

Inside Llewyn Davis, the new film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, and Justin Timberlake, is out now on Blu-ray and DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Both formats include "Inside Inside Llewyn Davis," a 40-minute making-of documentary offering insights from the filmmakers, cast, crew, and musicians, and are available now in the Nonesuch Store.

Jac Holzman, the founder of both Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records, will receive the NYU Steinhardt Music Business Program’s Visionary Award at a ceremony on Wednesday. Holzman will interact with students, faculty, and administrators and discuss his six‐decade career with Phil Galdston, NYU Faculty Songwriter‐in‐Residence and Master Teacher in Songwriting. "Jac Holzman is a towering figure in music," noted Dr. Ron Sadoff, Director of the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions. "He has brought a unique combination of skills, talent, and insight to his work, and, in so doing, forever changed the cultural and business landscape."

Now available in The Black Keys' online store is the official West Akron Baseball League jersey designed by The Black Keys creative director Michael Carney. All profits from this t-shirt will be donated to the W.A.B.L., in which both Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney played as kids. "It was a really positive hobby that kept us from sitting around watching TV," Patrick Carney tells MTV. "We are proud to be sponsoring W.A.B.L to hopefully offset some of the league's expenses and get more kids outside having fun."

Randy Newman will lead a one-night-only performance of his famed 1995 musical Faust in concert at New York City Center on July 1, 2014, as part of the Encores! Off-Center series. The performance, directed by Thomas Kail (In the Heights), will feature Newman starring as the Devil, with additional casting still to be announced. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 17.

Pat Metheny Unity Group takes Kin (←→) to his home state of Missouri ... John Adams leads Canadian premiere of his Absolute Jest ... Carolina Chocolate Drops round out Southern leg of US tour ... Richard Goode plays to poetry at Princeton ... Americana Music Honors & Awards show airs with performances by Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Dr. John ... Gidon Kremer plays hometown of Riga ... Kronos Quartet gives family concert in San Francisco ... Audra McDonald joins Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for benefit gala ... Brad Mehldau Trio tours France ... Natalie Merchant joins Virginia Symphony Orchestra ... Punch Brothers kick off tour at Oberlin ... Joshua Redman Quartet is in Germany ... Rokia Traoré plays the Netherlands ... 

Punch Brothers kick off a three-week US tour at Oberlin College this Sunday, part of the group's three-part residency on the campus this academic year. The tour, with support from singer/songwriter Aoife O'Donovan, continues through the end of the month with shows in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Connecticut, and upstate New York, as well as festival sets at Suwannee Springfest in Florida and Savannah Music Festival in Georgia. Punch Brothers will also perform at the High Sierra and Sasquatch! festivals in the Pacific Northwest in July.

The 2013 Americana Music Honors & Awards ceremony, at which Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell took home the Duo of the Year and Album of the Year awards for their album Old Yellow Moon last September, will be broadcast in full on AXS TV this Sunday, March 9, at 8 PM ET. Dr. John was also presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, and Ry Cooder presented an award. Watch a preview here.