John Adams makes his first-ever Australian concert appearances with programs titled Adams Conducts Adams in Sydney and Melbourne. Marking his Sydney Opera House debut as conductor, Adams leads the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and saxophonist Timothy McAllister in the world premiere of his Saxophone Concerto on Thursday and Friday. Also on the program are Adams’s Violin Concerto performed by Leila Josefowicz and works by Beethoven and Respighi. Adams heads next to Melbourne to conduct the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in an all-Adams program at Hamer Hall August 29 and 31 featuring the Australian premiere of City Noir and performances of his Violin Concerto and Short Ride in a Fast Machine.

Nonesuch Records released Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1, an album of Bach works recorded by mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, to critical acclaim earlier this month. On September 24, 2013,  the vinyl edition will be released, comprising two works written for solo violin: Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, and Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002. The LP, produced by Edgar Meyer, was pressed on a single disc in 140-gram vinyl at Pallas in Diepholz, Germany, and is available to pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. Thile is currently touring with his fellow musicians of The Goat Rodeo Sessions and will perform works by Bach in solo recitals this fall.

Joel and Ethan Coen, T Bone Burnett, and Scott Rudin announced today a benefit concert entitled Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of “Inside Llewyn Davis,” which will take place at The Town Hall in New York City on Sunday, September 29. The concert is inspired by music from the upcoming Coen Brothers’ film, Inside Llewyn Davis, which is set in the 1960’s Greenwich Village folk music scene. A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the National Recording Preservation Foundation. Artists performing at the concert include The Avett Brothers, Joan Baez, Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops, Lake Street Dive, Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, Milk Carton Kids, Marcus Mumford, Conor Oberst, Punch Brothers, Secret Sisters, Patti Smith, Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings, Willie Watson, and Jack White. Stars of the film will also perform at the event, including Oscar Isaac (who plays the title role in the film), Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Stark Sands. Tickets to the concert will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 12 PM EDT at Ticketmaster.com.

Dawn Upshaw and Crash Ensemble perform Donnacha Dennehy's That the Night Come at Kilkenny Arts Festival ... Sam Amidon, Bombino play Lowlands Festival in Netherlands ... Laurie Anderson performs in East Hampton ... Kremerata Baltica closes out Costa Rica festival ... Carolina Chocolate Drops are in Pennsylvania ... Dr. John performs in his hometown of New Orleans ... Jeremy Denk joins Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney ... Fatoumata Diawara concludes North American tour ... Lianne La Havas plays UK's V Festival ... Joshua Redman is in Reykjavik ... Chris Thile and the Goat Rodeo goes to Bethel Woods and Ravinia ... and more ...

Nonesuch releases pianist Jeremy Denk's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations on September 30 (October 21 internationally), available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. The album includes a companion DVD with video "liner notes," on which Denk demonstrates passages on the piano as he explains certain details of the iconic piece. Watch an excerpt here. The New York Times has remarked on Denk's "profound affinity with Bach," and the Philadelphia Inquirer has called his performance of the Goldberg Variations "mesmerizing." Denk plays in 15 US cities this fall including a performance of the Goldberg Variations in Boston, Chicago, and DC and concerts with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Krannert Center.

Singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright was the guest on NPR's World Cafe yesterday to discuss the double-disc set Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle, which features highlights from three tribute concerts Kate's children, Martha and her brother Rufus Wainwright led with McGarrigle's sister Anna in honor of the late singer and Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame member. On World Cafe, Wainwright shares stories of her mother and gives intimate performances of two McGarrigle tunes: "I Am a Diamond" and "Talk to Me of Mendocino." 

Fatoumata Diawara, whose North American summer tour comes to a close in British Columbia this weekend, is the subject of a captivating feature profile on CNN's African Voices program. Diawara spoke with CNN for an in-depth discussion of her life, from her early days in Mali to an acting career that led to world travel and her career in music, as heard on her critically acclaimed debut album, Fatou, and her recent efforts in support of peace in Mali. You can watch the profile here.

Sam Amidon’s Nonesuch debut album, Bright Sunny South, released this spring to critical acclaim, will be released on vinyl on September 24 with a download of the album and a bonus vinyl 7” disc featuring two previously unreleased recordings; it is available to pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. Amidon will tour North America throughout September including two nights at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City with Bill Frisell. 

Randy Newman will open the 2013–2014 season of free concerts from the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. His performance in the Thomas Jefferson Building's Coolidge Auditorium will take place on Saturday, October 5, followed by a conversation with the Music Division’s Mark Horowitz about the art of songwriting. Audra McDonald will spotlight songs from the Library’s American musical theater collections in her October 10 Coolidge Auditorium concert. Tickets will be available starting September 4.

Chris Thile was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday yesterday. The mandolin virtuoso spoke with host Rachel Martin about his new album, Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1, on which he performs three Bach works written for solo violin. "There's the mandolin and then there's the mandolin when Chris Thile puts it to work," says Martin. "Chris Thile is stretching the limits of his instrument yet again, this time taking on Bach." Thile kicks off a US tour with his fellow Goat Rodeo Sessions musicians this week.

Kronos Quartet helped close out the opening day of the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Friday night with a flourish: first performing with The National (pictured here with Bob Weir, who joined for a song), then returning to the stage for the closing act, Sir Paul McCartney, for his encore, a performance of "Yesterday." Rolling Stone reports the performance "moved virtually every single person in the field, including security guards and food vendors." Watch it here.

Stephen Sondheim was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal in a public ceremony at The MacDowell Colony in Petersborough, New Hampshire, yesterday. Sondheim joins a notable list of past Medal recipients, including Robert Frost, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Leonard Bernstein; this marks the first time in the medal's history a luminary has been chosen from the realm of musical theatre. "I am not only humbled and privileged," says Sondheim, "I am astonished to be in the company." Writer Frank Rich, chairman of the medal selection committee, says: "No artist has made a larger contribution to this quintessential American art form in the modern era than Sondheim has, and no artist could be more deserving of this accolade."