Jessica Lea Mayfield kicks off a three-show run with the Avett Brothers at D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, tonight, following her recent tour with Justin Townes Earle. Mayfield and the Avetts head next to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to perform at the F.M. Kirby Center on Saturday, and close out the weekend with a performance at the Smith Opera House in Geneva, New York, on Sunday.

On the final day of her tour with Earle, on Valentine's Day, Mayfield stopped by the Minnesota Public Radio studios to talk with The Current host Mary Lucia. You can hear her in-studio performance of three songs from her recently released Nonesuch debut album, Tell Me, at minnesota.publicradio.org.

The New Zealand Herald gives the album four stars, saying: "Those who like the wide, rustic sound of folk-like singers such as Neko Case and [Dan] Auerbach's powerful 2010 release should like this one."

NOW Toronto says of Mayfield: "The Ohio native has one of those compelling deadpans – think peak Liz Phair or Lucinda Williams—that can trick you into believing she’s not one to get riled up. But her songs smoulder with the pain of love, desire and isolation, as on the haunting album closer, 'Sleepless.'"

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John Adams conducts the final performance of Nixon in China in its premiere production at the Metropolitan Opera in New York Saturday night. The production has received rave reviews throughout, most recently hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “a classic." The Canadian Opera Company continues its own production of the piece at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto, led by conductor Pablo Heras-Casado.

Not far from the Met, Adams leads the Juilliard Orchestra in a performance of his City Noir at Carnegie Hall tonight. Also on the program are Richard Strauss's Don Juan and Bartók's Dance Suite.

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As noted earlier today in the Nonesuch Journal, Ben Folds kicks off the European leg of his 2011 tour with a performance at Vicar Street in Dublin tonight, featuring music from his latest album, Lonely Avenue, a collaboration with English novelist Nick Hornby. The Goldplec Irish Music News has chosen it as Gig of the Week. Next up are two performances in the UK: at the HMV Institute in Birmingham on Saturday and at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London on Sunday. Time Out London recommends the latter, calling Folds an artist "whose style suggests a Randy Newman for the iPod generation."

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The Black Keys follow last Sunday's night of multiple Grammy Award wins for their latest Nonesuch release, Brothers, with two sold-out shows at The Chelsea in the newly opened Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas this weekend: with Cage the Elephant opening on Saturday and OutKast's Big Boi on Sunday.

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Carolina Chocolate Drops follow last weekend's Grammy win for Best Traditional Folk Album for their Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig, with two sold-out shows at the Library Theatre in Hoover, Alabama, Saturday and Sunday, as part of the Southern Voices Conference. "They are effortlessly entertaining," says Birmingham's Black & White, "and adept at nailing both upbeat tunes and sultry gospel moments."

The Carrboro Citizen, published a note from the editor, congratulating the hometown band for their Grammy win. "We have long taken pride in our music community, and for good reason," the editor writes, seeing the Grammy as an acknowledgment of that pride. There's also great coverage of the band's Grammy win on Charlotte television station WBTV at wbtv.com.

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Wanda Jackson closes out her European tour with a performance at Posthof in Linz, Austria, tonight, with Chris Aron & Band and special guest Michael Pewny. Jackson returns to the States to kick off a US tour next week, starting at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

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Kronos Quartet are joined by pipa virtuoso Wu Man for a performance of A Chinese Home and Tan Dun's Ghost Opera at Florida State University’s Ruby Diamond Auditorium in Tallahassee tonight. It's part of the 7 Days of Opening Nights Festival there.

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Brad Mehldau and mezzo-soprano Sofie von Otter give the New York premiere of the expanded version of Mehldau's Love Songs in Carnegie Hall's Zankel hall tonight. Also on the program are works by Grieg, Sibelius, Brahms, and Richard Strauss. The duo performed together last night and do so again in the coming week in Montreal, Toronto, and Durham, North Carolina. Mehldau performs a solo concert at the Garde Arts Centre in New London, Connecticut, this Sunday, two days before the Nonesuch release of his latest solo album, the 2CD/DVD Live in Marciac.

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Randy Newman continues his tour of the United States with two stops in the Midwest this weekend: at Miami University in Middletown, Ohio, on Saturday, which Cincinnati CityBeat calls "a rare treat," and at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on Monday, Presidents' Day. Given that Newman has never shied from including a political song or two in his repertoire, it seems like a good way to spend the holiday weekend.

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Fernando Otero and his Electric Quintet continue their month-long residency at Nublu in New York City this Saturday.

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Punch Brothers perform at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, North Carolina, tonight, then head south to perform at the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center in Athens on Saturday. The band returns to North Carolina to perform at The Orange Peel in Asheville on Sunday. Expect an even more festive atmosphere than usual on Sunday as Chris Thile celebrates his 30th birthday.

"At first glance, the Punch Brothers look like your average five-piece string band," says the Asheville Citizen Times. "But within a few minutes of witnessing the group's dynamic live show, it's instantly apparent this crew is intent on defying the boundaries of their instruments."

American Songwriter's Brittney McKenna, reviewing this week's Punch Brothers show at Nashville's Mercy Lounge, exclaims: "The Punch Brothers are all about the music, labels and genres and flashy sets be damned, and as such, they’re one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen, and probably always will be."

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Joshua Redman and his Trio, featuring Reuben Rogers and Gregory Hutchinson, continue their Eastern European tour through the weekend, starting with two shows in Moscow: at the Igor Butman Club tonight and at the Moscow International Music House on Monday. Next up is a performance at the Great Guild Hall in Riga, Latvia, on Sunday.

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The new-music ensemble eighth blackbird will be joined by the San Diego percussion group red fish blue fish in a performance of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City tonight as part of the Tune-In Music Festival. The former can be heard on the Nonesuch recording of Reich's Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet from September of last year.

The London Sinfonietta and Synergy Vocals, led by Thomas Adès, performed Music for 18 Musicians in Glasgow last weekend and do so again in Birmingham, England, next month. They perform Reich's Tehillim at Southbank Centre in London tonight.

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Allen Toussaint completes his five-part residency of weekly performances at Joe’s Pub in New York with his fifth and final show on Sunday.

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Dawn Upshaw continues her series of performances with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with two concerts at the Ordway Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, tonight and Saturday. The program features the world premiere of Gabriela Frank's La centinela y la paloma (The Keeper and the Dove), as well as works by Chapela, Falla, and Copland.

The Wall Street Journal recently took a closer look at Upshaw's relationship with the SPCO. "The beloved American soprano Dawn Upshaw has always followed her own star," writes the Journal's David Mermelstein. "When few singers of her stature championed new music, she made a cottage industry of the practice, a commitment that has only increased with the years. At the same time, her growing interest in more intimate forms of music making has led her to forge new associations away from the opera house, including one here with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra." Read the article at wsj.com.

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Sara Watkins and the Decemberists are on familiar turf for the band this weekend as they perform two shows in the Pacific Northwest: at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle tonight and at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the Decemberists' hometown of Portland on Saturday.