Devendra Banhart and Rokia Traoré kick off Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, the Barbican's month-long celebration of Nonesuch Records' 50th anniversary, sharing an "unplugged" evening featuring recent and past material, at the Barbican Hall in London on Friday, May 2, 2014. Tickets are on sale now at barbican.org.uk.

As previously announced, the following weekend, the celebrations continue with two sold-out concerts from Natalie Merchant at Milton Court Concert Hall on May 10 and 11. A few days later, Kronos Quartet marks both Nonesuch at 50 and its own 40th anniversary season with an evening of commissioned works by favorite composers and collaborators from throughout Kronos' history, including a UK premiere by Philip Glass and a world premiere by The National's Bryce Dessner, at the Barbican Hall on May 13.

At the center of the Explorations is a marathon weekend, May 17 and 18, of five London concerts taking place in LSO St Luke's, Guildhall School's new Milton Court Concert Hall, and the Barbican Hall. Featured among the weekend's events are performances by artists including Jonny Greenwood, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Timo Andres, Sam Amidon, Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens, Olivia Chaney, and others performing works by Greenwood, Mehldau, Andres, Steve Reich, John Adams, Philip Glass, Frederic Rzewski, Henryk Górecki, Donnacha Dennehy, and more.

Following the marathon weekend are further one-off concerts and collaborations featuring a breadth of artists associated with the label and in the spirit of it, including Jeremy Denk performing the Goldberg Variations and Ligeti Études at LSO St Luke’s on May 24; two nights of Emmylou Harris performing Wrecking Ball at the Hall on May 25 and 26; an evening with Caetano Veloso, featuring songs from his new album, Abraçaço, at the Hall on May 27; and, finally, Toumani Diabaté and his son Sidiki Diabaté performing music from their new World Circuit album, Toumani & Sidiki, at the Hall on May 30.

For additional details on all of the events associated with Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, visit barbican.org.uk.