Donnacha Dennehy's Nonesuch debut album, Grá agus Bás, has been named one of NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums of the 2011 (So Far), with the year having reached its half-way point. So, "if you're looking for the best of January-to-June in virtually every major musical genre," NPR says of its list at npr.org, "here's a good starting point."

Grá agus Bás includes the title piece, which was inspired by sean-nós "old style" Irish vocal music, as well as the composer’s song cycle That the Night Come, comprising six settings of poems by W.B. Yeats (who was born 146 years ago yesterday). The Dublin–based Crash Ensemble performs both works, conducted by Alan Pierson. Irish singer Iarla O’Lionáird is the soloist for Grá agus Bás; Dawn Upshaw is featured on That the Night Come.

NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas calls the album "a revelation." She describes the title piece as "haunting and utterly bracing" and says Dennehy set the Yeats for "Upshaw and her silvery, glistening voice in bracing, rich, complex and just plain gorgeous displays." Tsioulcas assures readers she will "be listening to this for a long time to come."

Read more, see the complete list, and weigh in at npr.org. To pick up a copy of Grá agus Bás, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s at checkout.

Upshaw helps launch Ojai North!, featuring music from last weekend's Ojai Music Festival, with a concert at Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall tonight. Upshaw joins the Australian Chamber Orchestra for Maria Schneider's Winter Morning Walks, as well as a performance of Bartók's Five Hungarian Folk Songs. Upshaw's Ojai North! performances continue Thursday and Saturday with performances of a new staged production of George Crumb’s The Winds of Destiny (American Songbook IV), directed by Peter Sellars. For more on these and other upcoming performances by Upshaw, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.