Kronos Quartet launches a three-year partnership with San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts with two nights of concerts at YBCA's Novellus Theater. The program includes George Crumb's Black Angels, Bob Ostertag's All the Rage, Ingram Marshall's Fog Tropes II, and new works by Aleksandra Vrebalov and Sahba Aminikia. "Kronos Quartet brings together an extraordinary legacy of evoking powerful expression with an unflagging commitment to supporting new artists and global perspectives," says YBCA curator Angela Mattox. "Tonight's program is emblematic of that commitment to support bold expression and profound human response."

Tune in to hear Stephen Sondheim on NPR's Fresh Air today; he'll discuss his newly released collection of lyrics, Finishing the Hat. Paul Simon, reviewing the book in the Times Book Review, calls it "a master class in how to write a musical ... given by the theater’s finest living songwriter" and says: "I would argue that Sondheim’s lyrics are deeper, more invisibly intricate and braver in their search for truth than those of any who have preceded him." Fresh Air says of Sondheim's Evening Primrose, just out on DVD: "Boy, does it make a case for the early brilliance of Sondheim."

Thomas Newman is the subject of an article from Reuters and the Hollywood Reporter that traces his career in music, from his early ambivalence about following in his famous father's footsteps to his becoming an acclaimed composer in his own right, with scores to films like Revolutionary Road and HBO's Angels in America. Newman "has produced some of the most memorable film music of the past 20 years," says Reuters, having now "cemented his place on the A list."

Punch Brothers, Wanda Jackson, and Sara Watkins are all slated to perform at the 2011 Stagecoach country music festival, which will be held April 30 and May 1, 2011. Next year's Stagecoach marks the annual music festival's fifth consecutive year and will be held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. The festival celebrates more than five decades of country music with a diverse musical lineup, also including Rodney Crowell, Gatlin Brothers, Loretta Lynn, and many more.

Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen and ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate will be the guests on today's episode of NPR's World Cafe. Allen made his World Circuit / Nonesuch debut with the release of Secret Agent earlier this year. Kouyate performs on the album AfroCubism, due out this Tuesday. The latter album is featured on AOL Spinner, which that traces its roots back to the recording sessions that launched Buena Vista Social Club.

The new documentary feature Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields, receives its North American theatrical release at the Film Forum in New York City tonight; the band and the filmmakers will attend. A new Magnetic Fields exhibition opens at Other Music in Manhattan as well. In the coming months, the film will open theaters in Toronto and in cities across the US, including Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Dallas, and Seattle.

After seven months at radio, “Tighten Up,” the first single from The Black Keys’ album Brothers, is #1 at Modern Rock radio. This is the duo’s first #1 hit as well as the first in Nonesuch’s 40-plus year history. On Black Friday, November 26, in honor of Record Store Day, The Black Keys will release a special, limited-edition numbered version, which includes the original Brothers album on double 45 RPM vinyl and CD plus a bonus 10” with six previously unreleased live recordings and a limited-edition poster.

The Low Anthem and Carolina Chocolate Drops have been selected to perform as part of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook, which celebrates the diversity of American popular song, from the golden age of musical standards to today’s most dynamic songwriting. The Low Anthem perform on January 13, Carolina Chocolate Drops on February 2, in the Allen Room, overlooking Central Park. The two bands are set to tour together in December.

Stephen Sondheim: Finishing the Hat, the composer's first-ever collection of his lyrics, with personal anecdotes and behind-the-scenes photos, is out now in the US. The New York Times says: "If you’re a fan of the genre, how can you not feel privileged to eavesdrop on his dialogue with his own words?" Today also marks the first-ever DVD release of Sondheim's 1966 teleplay Evening Primrose; the Times credits the Nonesuch recording of the show, in part, with popularizing its signature song.

Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica launch their North American tour in Seattle this Friday. Their latest Nonesuch release, De Profundis, was featured on NPR's All Things Considered Sunday, among select albums for the fall. The album "plays through like a fascinating mix tape, with a surprise around every corner," says NPR classical producer Tom Huizenga. "It's fantastic ... a very heady but very listenable and terrific mix of music and politics."

Steve Reich is Composer of the Week this week at BBC Radio 3. Tune in all week to hear interviews with and music by Reich, including the British radio premiere of his 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet. The Detroit Free Press gives Reich's new Double Sextet / 2x5 album a perfect four stars in an article that looks at music chosen for the Pulitzer and finds that "recent juries have rewarded some terrific pieces worthy of the acclaim."

Pat Metheny closed out his fall Orchestrion tour of North America with a final concert in Connecticut on Saturday. The Hartford Courant describes Metheny as "a visionary artist, as he displayed throughout Saturday's performance"; his "one-man orchestra proved to be an exciting and constantly creative endeavor." MassLive, reviewing Thursday's show in Northampton, says Metheny has "found a way to create world’s tightest jazz band."