The Staves release their first new album in six years, Good Woman, February 5, 2021, on Nonesuch Records in the US. Good Woman was written and recorded in a time of tremendous turmoil and change for the band, between the ending of relationships, the death of their beloved mother, and the birth of Emily’s first child. Produced by John Congleton, the album is a testament to the Stavely-Taylors’ strength and that of other women; to sisters, mothers, and daughters; to love, loss, and change; and to trying to be a good woman.

Sam Amidon performed as part of Kansas Smitty's Virtual Jazz Bar in London. He joined clarinetist Giacomo Smith and band to perform a few songs from Amidon's new self-titled album, out this Friday. You can watch the session here. Amidon will celebrate the release of the new album with a livestream concert on Bandcamp this Thursday at 4pm EDT.

John Adams, the 2021 Music Director and conductor for the Ojai Music Festival, has announced featured artists for the 75th festival, June 10–13, 2021, including composer/pianist Timo Andres, who returns to Ojai to give the first live public performance of I Still Play, and Attacca Quartet, which makes its Ojai debut performing works by Caroline Shaw and others. Adams will conduct two concerts with works by Steve Reich, among others; his own work will be on programs by the LA Phil New Music Group and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.

Kronos Quartet filmed a socially distanced performance of "Lux Aeterna," from composer Clint Mansell's score to Darren Arronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, to mark the film's 20th anniversary, at Stanford's Bing Concert Hall. You can watch it here. Nonesuch Records will reissue the soundtrack on vinyl December 4.

Yola, Rhiannon Giddens, and Laurie Anderson took part in Great Performances: Grammy Salute to Music Legends, an awards ceremony and tribute concert to present the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards on PBS. Yola performs "Up Above My Head" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, to whom Rhiannon Giddens presents a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award. Laurie Anderson performs "Gee-Whiz," her collaboration with Philip Glass, and presents him with the Trustees Award. You can watch it all here.

Rhiannon Giddens is the guest on the inaugural episode of NPR Music's Amplify with Lara Downes, a new bi-weekly series of intimate video conversations "with visionary Black musicians who are shaping the present and future of the art form," says NPR. "Rhiannon is my friend and soul sister, my fellow traveler on the path that leads to the deep center of American music," says Downes. "In this year of staying home and standing still, we reflect together on the long miles we've traveled so far and what we've found on our journeys, envisioning the wide open road ahead." You can watch it here.

Chris Thile presents Music is Life is Music: a masterclass series for people who make (or just love) music this fall. The series includes three Sunday classes: Listening on October 25, Writing on November 1, and Performing on November 8. "Music is Life is Music is a three-part look under the hood of my music-making process," Thile says. "I've been informed by the processes of so many great musicians, and I can’t wait to share all that with fellow music lovers and makers.”

The Spike Lee–directed film of David Byrne’s American Utopia debuts on HBO and HBO Max this Saturday, October 17, at 8pm ET/PT. The film gives audiences access to Byrne’s critically-acclaimed Broadway show that played to sold-out, record-breaking audiences at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre in NYC. Make the special event even more so by hosting a Ballot Party for you and your family and friends to make your plan to vote; for further inspiration, we've put together a Ballot Party playlist of songs from and inspired by the American Utopia original cast album you can hear here.

Composer Clint Mansell spoke with NPR's Tim Greiving on Morning Edition about creating the score for director Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film, Requiem for a Dream. "Requiem for a Dream celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall" says Greiving, "and in that time there's at least one part of its legacy that's never faded: the music. The movie's haunted original score spawned a kind of breakout hit that would ripple through media for years to come." You can listen to the Morning Edition piece here. The 20th anniversary vinyl edition of the soundtrack, performed by Kronos Quartet, is due December 4 and is available to pre-order now.

Composer Tristan Perich has released a video featuring a selection from his piece Drift Multiply, for 50 violins and 50-channel 1-bit electronics. The video was assembled from footage of three October 2019 performances of the piece conducted by Douglas Perkins in the Netherlands: Onderzeebootloods in Rotterdam (with dance by Lucinda Childs), Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, and De Doelen in Rotterdam, where the forthcoming album of the piece was recorded. You can watch it here.

Ahead of the premiere of Spike Lee's filmed version of David Byrne’s American Utopia on HBO this Saturday comes news that the show will return to the live stage on Broadway in the fall of 2021 at a theater to be announced. Performances will be begin on Friday, September 17, 2021. Tickets are on sale now. "We all need things to look forward to at this time," says Byrne. "I can't wait to get back on stage, live, in person with my fellow band members to perform for audiences in person. I realize now, more than ever, how much I miss performing this show with the band in front of a live Broadway audience."

David Byrne launches an online exhibition via Pace Gallery of fifty unique, hand-drawn illustrations he made this year while isolating in his Manhattan apartment. The Dingbats drawings explore themes and preoccupations associated with daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic—Byrne's way of expressing hope, a desire for connection, and the power of community. All proceeds from the exhibition will benefit the Arbutus Foundation, Byrne’s non-profit organization dedicated to re-imagining the world through projects that inspire and educate.