John Adams received an honorary doctorate from the Juilliard School, gave the commencement address ... Laurie Anderson performs Delusion in Germany ... The Black Keys, up for Billboard Music Awards, play the Hang Out Music Fest ... James Farm tours Europe ... Ben Folds tours Australia ... Wanda Jackson hits Houston, New Orleans ... Kronos Quartet performs in Phoenix ... The Low Anthem talks to Marketplace ... Philip Selway plays a set at Liverpool Sound City ... Chris Thile and Michael Daves are in Annapolis ... and more ...
John Adams received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Juilliard School at the conservatory's 106th Commencement Ceremony this morning. Adams also delivered this year's commencement address at the ceremony, held at Alice Tully Hally in New York City. Also receiving honorary doctoral degrees from Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi were pianist and producer Herbie Hancock, actor Derek Jacobi, and choreographer Twyla Tharp.
Adams’s latest Nonesuch album, Son of Chamber Symphony / String Quartet—with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), led by the composer, performing the former, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet performing the latter—is due out on May 31 and is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store.
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra performs Son of Chamber Symphony at the Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, tonight and at the Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis on Sunday on a program that also includes works by Dvořák and Beethoven. The Cleveland Orchestra, led by conductor Franz Welser-Möst, performs Adams's Guide to Strange Places at Cleveland's Severance Hall Saturday night, paired with works by Haydn, Stravinsky, and Beethoven.
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Laurie Anderson continues her European tour with two performances of her latest work, Delusion, at Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany, tonight and tomorrow night.
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The Black Keys head down to Gulf Shores, Alabama, to play a headliner set at the Hang Out Music Fest. The band plays the final set on the Surf Style Stage for the festival's closing night on Sunday.
The band is also nominated for three Billboard Music Awards, which will be presented in a ceremony at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 22, broadcast live on ABC starting 8 PM ET Sunday night. The Black Keys are up for Top Alternative Artist and Top Rock Album and Top Alternative Album for their acclaimed 2010 Nonesuch release, Brothers.
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James Farm—the collaborative band featuring saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland—continues its European tour with two stops in Switzerland, at Kaufleuten in Zurich tonight and Auditorio RSI Lugano on Saturday, followed by a Sunday night set at Kulturzentrum Alte Feuerwache in Mannheim, Germany.
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As noted earlier today in the Nonesuch Journal, Ben Folds has three more shows in his Australian tour, including two this weekend: at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne tonight and at the A.E.C. Theatre in Adelaide on Sunday. Australian singer/songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke is joining throughout the tour there. Following Tuesday's show in Perth, Folds heads next to Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.
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Philip Glass is joined by violinist Tim Fain for a performance of works from the composer's chamber music repertoire at Teatro Jofre in Ferrol, Spain, on Saturday. On Sunday, Glass participates in a discussion of the classic Godfrey Reggio film Koyaanisqatsi, which features his unforgettable score, following a screening of the film at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress in Uppsala, Sweden.
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Wanda Jackson continues her non-stop US tour with two shows this weekend: at Fitzgerald's in Houston on Saturday and at Tipitina's Uptown in New Orleans on Sunday. Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs support both nights. In advance of Sunday's show, Jackson is the subject of a profile in the Times-Picayune, in which she discusses her recent performance for and appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which you can read at nola.com. Go Memphis calls Jackson's Third Man / Nonesuch Records debut album, the Jack White-produced The Party Ain't Over, as "the latest triumph in a remarkable six-decade career."
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Kronos Quartet performs at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, tonight. On the program are works by Bryce Dessner, Missy Mazzoli, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and more.
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The Low Anthem, which has a few weeks off the road, will be featured on the show Marketplace, from American Public Media, as part of the show's "Art of the Business" segment. Marketplace can be heard on NPR member stations across the US and online at marketplace.publicradio.org.
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Steve Reich's seminal piece Music for 18 Musicians will be performed by the ANU Contemporary Music Ensemble and the DRUMatiX Percussion Group for the closing day of the 10-day Canberra International Music Festival Sunday afternoon. For the occasion, the Australian published the recent Times piece on Reich examining his latest work, WTC 9/11.
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Philip Selway has "emerged from a couple of months in the Radiohead lair," as he puts it, to give a rare solo performance at St. Luke's Church in Liverpool, England, on Saturday as part of the Liverpool Sound City festival. He'll perform this summer at the UK's Truck Festival in July.
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Chris Thile and Michael Daves continue their spring tour, featuring music from their debut duo album, Sleep with One Eye Open, at Rams Head on Stage in Annapolis, Maryland, on Sunday. The Boston Herald gives the new album an A-. "The two cover 16 bluegrass standards with rock ’n’ roll fervor using nothing but their voices and instruments," says the Herald's Nate Dow. "It is pure virtuosity—back-porch raw and without the usual studio sandpapering that often erodes the edges."
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