Chris Thile brings his Mandolin Concerto to Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium on Saturday in a performance with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, following last night's performance of the program at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Also on the program are Copland's Appalachian Spring as well as two world premieres: Clint Needham's When We Forget and Paul Chihara's arrangement of Bernstein's Suite for Small Orchestra from Trouble In Tahiti. New York's classical radio station WQXR, 105.9 FM, will broadcast the concert live starting at 7 PM ET; fans around the world can tune in at wqxr.org.

"Chris Thile, a mandolin virtuoso known for his work in the exhilarating progressive-bluegrass band Punch Brothers, is featured as the soloist in his inventive, appealing Mandolin Concerto," says the New York Times's Steve Smith in recommending Saturday's concert.

"Mandolinist Chris Thile is that rarest of musicians: a true polymath who’s also thrilling to watch, equally at home playing bluegrass with his band, Punch Brothers, or in front of an orchestra, and writing music," says New York magazine's Rebecca Milzoff in a preview of the show. "Onstage, he mixes fleet-fingered, ultraprecise technique with slack-bodied movement that can make listeners feel like voyeurs witnessing a private, sensual dance between man and instrument."

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John Adams's Absolute Jest will be performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the San Francisco Symphony, led by music director Michael Tilson Thomas at the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor tonight. It's part of the month-long American Mavericks festival, which will see the New York premiere of Absolute Jest at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday. This weekend at Carnegie Hall, David Robertson leads the Ensemble ACJW in a performance of Adams's Gnarly Buttons in Zankel Hall.

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As noted earlier today in the Nonesuch Journal, Laurie Anderson will unveil a new sound piece at a unique venue this weekend. The performance is part of the Sounds from a Room series, which will take place in A Room for London, a one-bedroom riverboat situated on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Anderson's performance will be screened live at the St. Paul's Pavilion in London's Royal Festival Hall Sunday evening at 5 PM GMT and webcast live at aroomforlondon.co.uk.

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Composer-pianist Timothy Andres will join the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), led by conductor Jeffrey Kahane, for two performances in Los Angeles this weekend: at Alex Theatre in Glendale on Saturday and Royce Hall in Westwood on Sunday. The concerts feature the world premiere of Andres's Old Keys, a new piece commissioned by LACO's Sound Investment; Mozart's Symphony No. 40; and the West Coast premiere of Andres's re-composition of Mozart's "Coronation" Concerto.

In advance of this weekend's concerts, Andres spoke with The Huffington Post's Daniel J. Kushner, sharing his thoughts on composition and the pieces to be performed this weekend. Kushner offers a preview of what's to come. “Old Keys minimizes the soloist’s limelight,” says Kushner, “and in the process, conceives of a new potential for the piano concerto as a medium.” Of Andres's take on Mozart's “Coronation” Concerto, Kushner suggests that the "balance between conceptual experimentation and traditional classical music vernacular is ultimately filtered through the thoughtful composer’s anticipation of his audience’s needs.” Read the full article at huffingtonpost.com.

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Björk travels to San Jose, Costa Rica, this weekend to perform at Autódromo La Gúacima for the Festival Imperial on Sunday. Björk closes out the Stage Imperial Este with her performance.

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The Black Keys continue their North American tour with special guests Arctic Monkeys, playing at the Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Virginia, tonight, followed by a sold-out show at the Bojangles Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday.

Reviewing last night's second of two sold-out concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden, The Huffington Post's Crystal Bell says the band "brought their grit 'n' stomp rock to a packed arena, managing to fill the space with their own brand of bluesy rock without any bells and whistles or unnecessary cheap tricks. It was almost like they couldn't see the flashing lights, or didn't really care. They were there to play some music—and play they did."

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Dom Flemons, founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, gives a solo performance at the Glendale Folk & Heritage Festival at the Sahuaro Ranch Park Historic Area in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday afternoon.

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Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s groundbreaking 1976 work Einstein on the Beach travels to Italy this weekend for the latest stop on a year-long international tour. The opera is showing at Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia on Saturday and Sunday.

Glass has been Composer of the Week all week on BBC Radio 3. You can listen to all of the episodes at bbc.co.uk.

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Kronos Quartet makes its debut at the historic Neptune Theatre in Seattle tonight with a program that includes Steve Reich's WTC 9/11, Laurie Anderson's Flow, Clint Mansell's Requiem for a Dream Suite, and works by Bryce Dessner, Ramallah Underground, Omar Souleyman, Michael Gordon, and others.

Kronos founder David Harrington spoke with the Seattle Times about the group's return to the city, where they played their first-ever concert in November 1973. Read the article at seattletimes.nwsource.com.

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Jessica Lea Mayfield gives a solo acoustic performance at the Otherlands Coffee Bar in Memphis, Tennessee, on Saturday as part of the city-wide Fareveller Festival.

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Brad Mehldau Trio, featuring bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard, continues its tour through Europe with a performance at Bimhuis in Amsterdam tonight. Mehldau gives a special solo performance at the venue Saturday night before joining up with the Trio again to play Italy's International Bergamo Jazz Festival on Sunday. The Trio’s latest album, Ode, was just released to great critical acclaim. The BBC raves: "All three players are articulating a ceaseless stream of fresh ideas throughout this electrically energised session."

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Randy Newman concludes his tour through Europe with one final show at 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, on Saturday. Newman is scheduled to perform Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado, this summer.

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Dawn Upshaw joins the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for performances at Centennial Hall in Winnipeg, Manitoba, tonight and Saturday. The program includes Golijov’s Three Songs, which was composed for Upshaw, and selections from Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne.

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Sara Watkins performs at Historic Fort Gaines in Dauphin Island, Alabama, for the Seagrass Music Festival on Saturday.