Steve Reich and Kronos Quartet are in the midst of their artist residency at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, which will culminate in the world premiere of Reich's latest work, WTC 9/11, on Saturday. Reich wrote the piece for Kronos, as he has his two previous quartets, which are also on Saturday's program. While Kronos may be a string quartet, "they are also like a rock group," Reich tells the Duke Chronicle, "and that’s an incredible accomplishment."

SXSW is in full swing today in Austin, with countless showcases, performances, parties, events, and radio broadcast on tap. Emmylou Harris and Jessica Lea Mayfield are among today's SXSW performers who can be heard around the world when their sets stream live online: Harris via NY public radio station WFUV, Mayfield on the Waterloo Records site. "Our Hearts Are Wrong," off Mayfield's album Tell Me, has been named NPR Song of the Day.

Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, John Zorn, and Lou Reed will be among the artists performing at the Concert for Japan, a 12-hour event on April 9 presented by NYC's Japan Society to benefit organizations that directly help people affected by the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan. Additional activities will be available for all ages, including making paper cranes and washi lanterns for good luck, basic Japanese language classes, and access to the exhibit Bye Bye Kitty!!!. All proceeds will go to Japan Society's Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.

Bill Frisell launches an 11-city European tour featuring the music of his last Nonesuch album, Disfarmer, in Hamburg, Germany, tonight. Joining him on tour are steel-guitar player Greg Leisz, bassist Viktor Krauss, and violinist Carrie Rodriquez. In the multimedia piece, inspired by the life, work, and subjects of eccentric photographer Mike Disfarmer, projected images of Disfarmer's portraits illuminate Frisell's musical perspectives on this fascinating character.

Emmylou Harris, who is in Austin, Texas, this week to perform at the SXSW Music Conference, has announced a series of European tour dates in May and June in support of her forthcoming album, Hard Bargain. The European shows include two previously announced dates in Norway along with nearly a dozen new shows in Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the UK, Netherlands, and Germany. Prior to the tour, Harris will take part in a TimesTalk in New York City.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang performed what Variety calls "a sublime set" outside the John Varvatos boutique in West Hollywood on Sunday for some 1,500 attendees at the John Varvatos 8th Annual Stuart House Benefit. Last month, lang and the band were in San Diego to give a performance at Sunset Sessions, which included five songs from their forthcoming album Sing it Loud, as well as some classic hits. The complete set was captured on video, which you can watch here.

Steve Reich talks to The State of Things from NPR member station WUNC today about Kronos Quartet's premiere of his latest work, WTC 9/11, in an all-Reich program Saturday at Duke University, where Reich and Kronos are artists-in-residence this week. Saturday's concert includes all three quartets Reich has written for Kronos. The Quartet gives the NY premiere of WTC 9/11 in an all-Reich program at Carnegie Hall on April 30, with Bang on a Can All-Stars, Glenn Kotche, eighth blackbird, and So Percussion.

The SXSW Music Conference gets under way in Austin, Texas, this week as thousands of bands and music lovers from all over the world descend on the live-music capital for several days of non-stop music making. Nonesuch artists will be well represented among them, with a dozen performances to come from Emmylou Harris, Jessica Lea Mayfield (one of SPIN's 35 Must-Hear Acts at SXSW), and Wanda Jackson. Many of the events will be broadcast live on the radio and online for fans around the world to hear.

The Low Anthem plays the pasta sauce factory of Smart Flesh fame ... Carolina Chocolate Drops head home to North Carolina ... Shawn Colvin joins Loudon Wainwright III in New England ... Philip Glass Festival unfolds in Southern California ... Emmylou Harris celebrates Canadian Music Week ... Wanda Jackson plays her home state of Oklahoma ... k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang take to the streets of LA for John Varvatos benefit ... Jessica Lea Mayfield is in Texas for the 35 Conferette ... Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Timothy Andres play Carnegie Hall ... Randy Newman conquers Colorado ... Punch Brothers play in Alaska ... Stephen Sondheim receives the Olivier Special Award ... and more ...

Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Timothy Andres and others join forces for the world premiere of Mehldau's Rock 'n' Roll Dances No. 3 and 4 at Carnegie Hall and at the Sanders Theatre in Cambridge this weekend; Mehldau and Andres also perform excerpts from Andres's Shy and Mighty. The BBC says of Mehldau's "excellent" new album, Live in Marciac: "After repeated hearings, the music sounds as fresh as ever ... His music is so rich that at times it is possible to believe two players are at work." All About Jazz says it "stands out as a signpost on Mehldau's evolutionary path." PopMatters calls it "100 minutes of pure uninterrupted piano virtuosity" through which "Mehldau is able to show off the full scope of his sickening talents."

Wanda Jackson's new album, The Party Ain't Over, "secures Jackson's place as a 21st-century entertainer," says a new review from NPR's All Things Considered. Producer Jack White "cleverly matches Jackson's infamous vocal growl with huge arrangements, creating an instant party on the first track," says NPR. "White coaxes a performance from Jackson that fits her as well today as it did in 1958." Tune in to CMT's Insider this weekend for a look at the collaboration. Jackson performs at the Robson PAC in Claremore, Oklahoma, tonight to benefit the Akdar Shrine Center.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops' and Luminescent Orchestrii's performance of "Knockin'," off their self-titled, four-song EP, has been named Song of the Day by NPR. "Knockin'' is the perfect song to capture the two groups' individual and combined gifts," says NPR. It "offers a new way to hear the Carolina Chocolate Drops. The group has long bridged the sounds of American roots music for modern audiences, but between 'Knockin'' and 'Hit 'Em Up Style,' it's exciting to hear [Rhiannon] Giddens sing with so much verve and conviction."