Natalie Merchant leads the 39th annual John Lennon Tribute benefit concert at Symphony Space in New York City tonight, joined by special guests including Nonesuch label mate Sam Amidon. Merchant is the recipient of the 2019 John Lennon Real Love Award for her work in social activism and dedication to charitable causes. Proceeds from the concert support Theatre Within's ongoing free workshops at Gilda’s Club NYC for children and adults impacted by cancer.

Amidon continues his US tour at Boot & Saddle in Philadelphia on Saturday and Concerts in the Studio in Freehold, New Jersey, on Sunday.

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Devendra Banhart concludes his North American Ma tour with concerts at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, on Saturday, and Union Transfer in Philadelphia on Sunday. He recently stopped by WFUV to talk with host Alisa Ali and perform three songs from his new album, which you can watch here.

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Daughter of Swords—Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig—tours the Midwest as special guest of Joan Shelley with shows at Stoughton Opera House in Wisconsin tonight, Colectivo in Milwaukee on Saturday, and Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago on Sunday.

Earlier this week, Mountain Man released Mountain Man Sings Wilco, the latest in its series of cover singles, featuring its version of “You and I” from 2009’s Wilco (the album). The digital single is available now in the Nonesuch Store and is streaming everywhere.

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Pianist Jeremy Denk joins vocalist Eric Owens in a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise at 560 Music Center’s E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall in St. Louis on Sunday. Denk’s new album, c. 1300–c. 2000, is “a thoughtfully curated, beautifully played, brilliantly annotated recital,” raves BBC Radio 3’s Record Review.

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Rhiannon Giddens and multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi continue their European tour in support of their new album, there is no Other, with a concert at Kulturkirche in Cologne, Germany, tonight, and a sold-out show at Det Depot in Leuven, Belgium, on Sunday. The new album has earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best American Roots Performance for the song “I'm on My Way.” The album has also been included in Uncut’s list of the Best New Releases of 2019.

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Gabriel Kahane joins the Oregon Symphony, of which he is Creative Chair, and conductor Christian Kluxen for the World Premiere performances of Pattern of the Rail, six orchestral settings from his 2018 Nonesuch Records debut album, Book of Travelers, at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland on Saturday and Sunday. The program also includes Beethoven’s Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, and Kahane’s “Empire Liquor Mart.”

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Stephin Merritt continues his From 69 to 50: A Stephin Merritt / Magnetic Fields Residency at Symphony Space in New York City with the second of two Magnetic Fields concerts at Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on Saturday. The original members of The Magnetic Fields—Merritt, Sam Davol, Claudia Gonson, John Woo, and Shirley Simms—are joined by members of the band that brought the 50 Song Memoir five-disc box set to life, as well as additional special guests. Merritt concludes the residency with a performance from his band The Gothic Archies next week.

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Gaby Moreno joins the National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Stephen Mulligan, and Ben Folds, for a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall in Washington, DC, tonight, as part of Folds’s DECLASSIFIED series. The program, which also features musicians Jamey Johnson and Emily King, includes works by Moreno, Dvořák, Debussy, Copland, Johnson, King, and Gabriela Lena Frank. Moreno heads to Florida for a solo show at Watsco Center in Coral Gables on Saturday.

¡Spangled!, Moreno’s new album with Van Dyke Parks, is a "life-affirming collaboration,” says Metro. "Its very existence is a political statement ... joy as an act of resistance.” NPR Music calls it “a stunning collection of music ... a fabulously gorgeous album."

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Mandy Patinkin, accompanied by pianist Adam Ben David, performs music from his new album, Children and Art, and more at Tarrytown Music Hall in upstate New York on Friday. “Art, never more than these moments were living these days, is the avenue toward expression of existence,” Patinkin tells NPR’s Ari Shapiro in a recent interview for All Things Considered. You can listen to their conversation here.

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Rachael & Vilray, touring behind their self-titled debut album, play sold-out early and late shows at Mississippi Studios in Portland, Oregon, tonight, before heading down to California for concerts at SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco on Saturday and The Sanctuary at Pico Union in Los Angeles on Sunday.

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Composer Steve Reich’s Music for Ensemble and Orchestra was given its New York premiere by the New York Philharmonic and conductor Jaap van Zweden at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall yesterday, and performances continue today and Saturday. The program also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman.

Following Saturday’s concert, Reich curates a Lincoln Center Nightcap event at Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, featuring works by Reich, Nico Muhly, and Gabriella Smith.

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Chris Thile hosts his public radio show, Live From Here, from The Town Hall in New York City on Saturday, with special guests Pixies, Black Pumas, Crooked Still, Aoife O'Donovan, and comedian Tom Papa, as well as Anthony Veneziale, Aneesa Folds, and Chris Sullivan of Freestyle Love Supreme. Folks in the US can tune in on their favorite public radio station this weekend and around the world via livefromhere.org, starting at 5:45 PM ET.

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Vagabon (aka Lætitia Tamko) continues her tour of the United States as special guest of Angel Olsen with a performance at Fox Theater in Oakland, California, on Saturday.

Vagabon’s self-titled sophomore album, recently released on Nonesuch Records, has received widespread critical acclaim. “Each song on Vagabon feels like a small world,” writes the New Yorker. NPR Music says the album showcases “Tamko's growth and versatility as a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, poet and all-around icon-in-the-making.”

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Rufus and Martha Wainwright continue the family's holiday musical tradition—as heard on Kate and Anna McGarrigle's 2005 album The McGarrigle Christmas Hour—with an evening of holiday songs with family and friends at Royal Festival Hall in London tonight. Guests include Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Guy Garvey, Chrissie Hynde, Jenni Muldaur, The Rails, and Neil Tennant. Profit from the concert goes to the Kate McGarrigle Fund, supporting sarcoma research, and a music therapy program for cancer patients to be launched by Martha Wainwright in conjunction with Stand Up To Cancer Canada.