Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica's Nonesuch recording of the complete Mozart violin concertos has received the Silver Award at the Record Academy Awards published by Japan's The Record Geijutsu. Australia's ABC Radio National's Breakfast has chosen the recording as Album of the Week, saying, "played true to the style of when they were written, the music sounds fresh and appealing."

BlakRoc, the collaboration between The Black Keys, Damon Dash, and some of the biggest MCs in hip-hop, was released on Friday; NPR marked the event on Morning Edition. The Washington Post describes the Keys' contribution as "a mix of gritty, jazzy and psychedelic beats that ... often resemble those of Wu-Tang Clan." The Wall Street Journal says unlike some earlier efforts to bring rock and hip-hop together, the Keys offer "the credibility needed to attempt such alchemy." The Village Voice says that here, "they actually improve one another." The Observer gives the album four stars.

Bill Frisell performed with his Trio—Kenny Wollesen on drums and Tony Scherr on bass—at the Kennedy Center last month. You can hear the concert online from NPR's JazzSet. In her introduction, host DeeDee Bridgewater describes Frisell as "a superman of contemporary improvisational music and one of the most compelling artists on the scene today."

The Times (UK) has had its say on the best albums of the decade, covering the best in classical, jazz, world music, and pop, and Nonesuch artists are represented in every one: John Adams at No. 1 on the classical list with Doctor Atomic Symphony; Brad Mehldau and Bill Frisell in jazz; Youssou N'Dour, Orchestra Baobab, "Cachaíto" Lopez, and Amadou & Mariam in world; the Malian duo in pop as well, along with Brian Wilson and Wilco.

BlakRoc, the brainchild of The Black Keys and Damon Dash, releases on “Black Friday” (a.k.a. "Blak Friday"), November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, featuring music by The Black Keys with a star-studded line up of MCs including Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Pharoahe Monch, Jim Jones, NOE, Nicole Wray, and Billy Danze. The Seattle Times calls it the "most interesting hip-hop approach" of the year.

When Joshua Redman joined Brad Mehldau for a duo set at London's Wigmore Hall last month, the Guardian said that with "the eloquent saxophonist" Redman, "Mehldau was often able to let his partner's built-in swing release his most whimsical side." The two perform together again for a very festive occasion: the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC, on December 3, with a PBS broadcast the following night.

Bill Frisell unveiled a new piece with Mike Gibbs and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican in London last Friday. The London Jazz Festival performance will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Afternoon on 3 today. "Each year, the London Jazz Festival marshals orchestral resources for landmark special events," writes the Financial Times in a five-star review. "This year’s centrepiece was a platform for Bill Frisell." The Guardian gives it four stars, saying "the graceful balance of order and open jamming in Gibbs's orchestral score let most of this unique artist's character glow through."

John Adams's Naive and Sentimental Music will be featured as part of the New York City Ballet's Opening Night Benefit performance at Lincoln Center tonight. The piece serves as score and title to a new work by Peter Martins, the company's ballet master in chief. "New York City Ballet’s opening-night benefit was obviously planned by someone who threw away the Classic Guide to the Boring Gala handbook," says the New York Times. "Put on your finery and go."

In December 2007, the Nonesuch Store opened online with just a couple of new releases. Now, two years later, the store has grown to include hundreds of new and classic Nonesuch albums. To celebrate the anniversary, all CDs, LPs, and DVDs on the site are now 33 1/3% off the standard retail price. That's an extra savings of almost 20% off the everyday prices listed here.

The latest episode of Studio 360 celebrates the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, including word from The Low Anthem's Ben Knox Miller on the origin of the title of the band's Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. The Rough Trade staff puts the album at No. 2 of the year's best, calling it "essential." After the band's show in London last week, Uncut calls it "the year's breakout album," not least for its "supernaturally beautiful title track."

Nonesuch President Bob Hurwitz is featured on the latest episode of The Monocle Weekly, the audio series on global affairs, business, culture, design, and consumer culture hosted by Monocle magazine Editor-in-Chief Tyler Brûlé. On this week's special hour-long episode from New York, Bob discusses the past, present, and future of the music business.

This fall, Nonesuch marked 25 years under the leadership of Bob Hurwitz. Bob became president of Nonesuch in 1984 and hired Peter Clancy, now the company’s senior vice president for marketing, shortly thereafter. Around the same time, David Bither—now the label’s executive vice president—came on as a dollar-a-year consultant. That this remarkably successful trio has stayed together and continued recording such extraordinary music for two-and-a-half decades is an occasion worth celebrating, and Nonesuch artists, staff, family, and friends did just that this week at two events in New York City.