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September
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sunday Concert Series Every Sunday Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway, Boston MBTA: Green Line to Museum $5 to $23, 617-566-1401 www.gardnermuseum.org The Gardner’s gorgeous Tapestry Room serves as the setting for this weekly concert series. Upcoming performances include the Borromeo String Quartet tackling Shostakovich, the Boston debut of the winners of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and Miriam Fried and Jonathan Biss putting the mother-son spin on Brahms and Bartok. That last one isn’t what it sounds like…honestly.
The 30th Anniversary Celebration of The John Coltrane Memorial Concert Sept. 16 through Sept. 22 Blackman Theatre, Northeastern 360 Huntington Ave., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Northeastern $25, 617-373-4700 www.jcmc.neu.edu The annual tribute to the supreme sax colossus is extended for an entire week this year, culminating in a Sept. 22 performance featuring Coltrane’s sax, Ravi, and poet Amiri Baraka. So put down that sheet of acid tabs and go expand your consciousness by listening to some sheets of sound instead.

‘A Celebration of Jazz and Joyce: A Concert to Establish the Joyce Alexander Wein’
Scholarship Fund
Sept. 28
Symphony Hall
301 Mass. Ave., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Symphony
$40 to $100, 888-266-1200
www.bso.org
This star-studded concert, directed by Newport Jazz Festival founder George Wein, has a to-die-for lineup of icons, including Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Branford Marsalis and Joe Lovano. If there is a jazz aficionado sitting next to you on the train, and he or she is reading this paragraph, you may need to prepare yourself to administer CPR. Good luck.
Yeah, she’s wearing a red dress, but what color is that violin?

‘The Red Violin’    Sept. 28 Jordan Hall at NE Conservatory 30 Gainsborough St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Symphony $10 to $20, 800-310-3211 www.mariabachmann.com Violinist Maria Bachmann performs John Corigliano’s “Red Violin” Concerto, which is also the subject of her latest recording and perhaps her signature work. Her recital partner, Jon Klibonoff, performs Ravel, Copland, Enescu and Boston premieres by Paul Moravec. Does this have Samuel L. Jackson in it?

A Tribute to Tina Turner Sept. 28 through Sept. 30 Regent Theatre 7 Medford St., Arlington MBTA: Red Line to Alewife $22.50 to $37.50, 781-646-4849 www.regenttheatre.com Tina Turner impersonator Cookie Watkins keeps Proud Mary burnin’ with this high-energy tribute show. She won’t be your private dancer (there are laws against that kind of thing), but her show does feature a live band and dancers, and is completely Ike-free.

7th Annual BeanTown Jazz Festival Sept. 29 Columbus Ave., between Burke St. and Mass. Ave., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Hynes/ICA Free, 866-410-5299 www.beantownjazz.org Six block of Columbus Avenue are shut down for the day to make way for three stages of horn blowin’ and ivory ticklin’. Jazz may not be a cash cow these days, but it can prompt a mutha of a traffic detour. Included on the free bill are the Mike Stern Band, Bobby Hutcherson, Blues After Dark, Entrain, the Greg Hopkins Jazz Orchestra, Claudia Acu, Conrad Herwig and Brian Lynch’s Latin Side of Miles Davis.

Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston
Sept. 29
Goethe-Institut
170 Beacon St., Boston
MBTA: Orange Line to Back Bay
$18 to $38, 617-427-8200
www.chameleonarts.org
The Chameleons celebrate their 10th year with “strands of a trio twining,” a night that includes trios by Beethoven, Dahl, Penderecki and Daron Hagen, as well as a performance of Brahm’s C-minor piano trio. Best of all is when they blend in with the wallpaper. Check it out! Even in this photo, they’re blending into the leaves!

Either/Orchestra Sept. 29 Somerville Theatre 55 Davis Square, Somerville MBTA: Red Line to Davis $28, 617-876-4275 www.worldmusic.org The local 10-piece jazz ensemble, a staple of the avant-scene for over 20 years, augments its Ethiopian-leaning sound with a number of special Ethiopian musical guests: composer Mulatu Astatke, singer Hana Shenkute, and traditional string players Setegn Atanaw and Minale Dagnew.

October

Longwood Symphony Orchestra: ‘Beethoven’s 9th Symphony’ Oct. 6 Jordan Hall at NE Conservatory 30 Gainsborough St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Symphony $15 to $28, 617-667-1527 www.longwoodsymphony.org The Longwood Symphony Orchestra opens its 25th Anniversary Season with the words of Friedrich Schiller and the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, specifically his 9th Symphony, a favorite of droogs everywhere. Jonathan McPhee leads the strong cast of soloists, including Janna Baty, Jan Wilson, Ray Bauwens and Robert Honeysucker, along with the New World Chorale.

SteveSongs
Oct. 6
Regent Theatre
7 Medford St., Arlington
MBTA: Red Line to Alewife
$10 to $12, 781-646-4849
www.regenttheatre.com
Dan Zanes, look out! Heads up, Raffi! What’s up, Blue’s Clues dude, you wanna be startin’ something? There’s a new sheriff in the cutthroat town of children’s music, and judging by the number of awards and accolades he’s received in recent years, Steve Roslonek is in it for the long haul. He brings his aptly titled ensemble, SteveSongs, to the Regent for a special midday show.

‘Teatro Lirico’ Oct. 6 First Congregational Church 11 Garden St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $25 to $64, 617-661-1812 www.bemf.org Arias, sonatas and dances from 17th-century Italy, France, Slovakia and England by the likes of Monteverdi, Farina and Strozzi are on tap for this celebration of “La Folia,” an ancient Spanish dance. Muy caliente!

‘The Art of Fugue’ Oct. 10 Emmanuel Church 15 Newbury St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Arlington $10 to $200, 617-536-3356 www.emmanuelmusic.org A benefit for Emmanuel Music, “The Art of Fugue” features 14 of Boston’s best-known pianists, scholars and composers, each performing one of J.S. Bach’s fugues. J.S. Bach, guy? Fugue-ettaboughit. Dude’s friggin’ awesome.

Lou Pride & the Rooster Blues Band Oct. 10 Tsai Performance Center 665 Comm. Ave., Boston MBTA: Green Line to BU East $5 to $10, 617-353-8725 www.bu.edu/cfa Commonwealth Ave gets the blues, Chicago style, when BU’s Department of Musicology brings Chi-town soul/bluesman Lou Pride to the Tsai for the night. Pride, a one-time artist on Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label, performs with the Rooster Blues Band who give a whole new meaning to the, ahem, cock-rock genre.

Boston University Wind Ensemble Oct. 11 Tsai Performance Center 665 Comm. Ave., Boston MBTA: Green Line to BU East Free, 617-353-8724 www.bu.edu/cfa Conductor David Martins leads the Boston University Wind Ensemble in a performance of works by Jenkins, Nelson, Mozart and Hindemith. Never has so much passing of wind sounded so good.

‘Così fan tutte’
Oct. 12 to Oct. 13
Jordan Hall at NE Conservatory
30 Gainsborough St., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Symphony
$29 to $72, 617-484-9200
www.bostonbaroque.org
Martin Pearlman conducts this semi-staged performance of Mozart’s great opera about the battle of the sexes and fiancée swapping, in which two officers disguise attempt to seduce each other’s bride-to-be in order to prove their eternal faithfulness. Due to its risqué subject matter, the opera was rarely performed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its title loosely translates to “Get Your Damn Hands Off My Wife.”

Mary Black Oct. 13 Berklee Performance Center 136 Mass. Ave., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Hynes/ICA $30 to $45, 617-876-4275 www.worldmusic.org Celtic vocalist Mary Black, five-time recipient of the “Best Female Artist” honor from the Irish Recorded Music Association, works in a plethora of genres from jazz to country, but her traditional Irish folk heritage remains a constant.

Billy Jonas
Oct. 13
Regent Theatre
7 Medford St., Arlington
MBTA: Red Line to Alewife
$10 to $12, 781-646-4849
www.regenttheatre.com
If audience participation is your thang, and you’d like it if everyone would let you get up and do your thang, then Billy Jonas is most likely your bag. His original songs, stories and improvisations, performed with guitar and percussion made from found objects, become “singalongs, bangalongs and whisperalongs” on stage. Think of it as a screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” for the family, minus the transsexuals and dudes with an unhealthy obsession with Tim Curry.

‘Spiritual Sounds of Central Asia: Nomads, Mystics & Troubadours’ Oct. 14 Sanders Theatre 45 Quincy St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $28 to $40, 617-876-4275 www.worldmusic.org Eighteen musicians from Central Asia, many appearing in the US for the first time, perform some of their region’s most ancient music and poetry together. Alim Qasimov, from Azerbaijan, and his daughter, Fergane, duet; the seven-person Badakhshan Ensemble, from Badakhshan, trance out to interpretations of writers like Rumi; and Bardic Divas, hailing from four different countries in Uzbekistan and the Republic of Kalmykia, bring the obligatory girl power.

Svara-Yantra Oct. 18 and Oct. 21 Sanders Theatre 45 Quincy St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard Oct. 20 Jordan Hall at NE Conservatory 30 Gainsborough St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Symphony $16 to $76, 617-236-0999 www.bostonphil.org The Boston Philharmonic presents the American premiere of “Svara-Yantra,” a concerto for violin and tabla by local composer Shirish Korde.  Also included on the bill are Ginastera’s “Variaciones concertantes” and Musorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Great, an entire evening dedicated to people whose names we can’t pronounce!

‘Ainadamar’
Oct. 19, 21 and 23
Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont St., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Boylston
$34 to $124, 800-233-3123
www.operaboston.org
Opera Boston stages Osvaldo Golijov’s dramatization of poet Federico Garcia Lorca’s execution by the Fascists during the Spanish Civil War. Sheesh, Fascists, chill! Somebody give those guys a bear hug and some hot chocolate! Directed by Peter Sellars and starring Dawn Upshaw as Garcia Lorca’s muse Margarita Xirgu. 

‘Chansons Parisiennes’ Oct. 19 Longy Music School 33 Garden St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $12 to $24, 617-547-7819 www.artelyrica.org Coffee, dessert and a little je ne sais quoi are just the icing on this Francophone cake, an evening of songs by French composers and poets, from Bizet to Edith Piaf, narrated by NPR’s Lisa Mullins. Zut allure!

Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits Oct. 19 Somerville Theatre 55 Davis Square, Somerville MBTA: Red Line to Davis $28, 617-876-4275 www.worldmusic.org Zimbabwe musician Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi makes an idiosyncratic brand of Afropop that many call “Tuku music,” mixing South African mbaqanga beats and energetic Zimbabwean jit pop with Zimbabwe’s politically charged chimurenga music. We just call it groovy.

‘Hostage’
Oct. 20 through Nov. 3
Boston University Theatre
264 Huntington Ave., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Symphony
$7, 617-353-8600
www.bostontheatrescene.com
In this opera, composed by Samuel Headrick, a woman fights for the release of her diplomat husband who is being held hostage by terrorists. You know what usually works in that kind of situation? Singing an opera. Drives terrorists crazy. Headrick, along with librettist Craig Wich, will be in residence for this premier staging of Act II.

Parents Weekend Choral Concert Oct. 20 CFA Concert Hall @ Boston University 855 Comm. Ave., Boston MBTA: Green Line to BU West Free, 617-353-8790 www.bu.edu/cfa The Concert Choir and Women’s Chorale perform together in celebration of Boston University’s Parents Weekend. Because after Mom and Dad find out keg costs have put you in debt and you’re flunking all your classes, they’ll need some choral music to lull them into a stupor of fantasy.

‘Vive Francis Poulenc!’ Oct. 20 All Saints Parish 1773 Beacon St., Brookline MBTA: Green Line to Dean Road $15 to $62, 617-232-4540 www.bostoncecilia.org French composer Francis Poulenc, Dada sympathizer and member of the early 20th century group Les Six, gets the tribute treatment at All Saints Parish. Baritone Christòpheren Nomura and pianist Barbara Bruns perform “Banalités” and selections from “Chansons Gaillardes,” and the Boston Cecilia sings “Messe en sol majeur,” “Un Soir de Neige,” and “Sept Chansons.” The only French song we know is “Un éléphant sur mon balcon,” which is about a cigar-smoking elephant on a balcony and is totally far out.

‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’ Oct. 27 through Nov. 3 Boston University Theatre 264 Huntington Ave., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Symphony $7, 617-933-8600 www.bostontheatrescene.com This one-act chamber opera, adapted from the essay by Oliver Sacks, follows a neurologist, a singer and the singer’s wife in the diagnosis of the singer’s rare mental disorder. Ultimately, though, you just don’t want to be mistaking your wife for a hat. That’s weak sauce.

Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations Oct. 27 Emmanuel Church 15 Newbury St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Arlington $25 to $64, 617-661-1812 www.bemf.org Under the direction of viola da gambist Jordi Savall, some of Europe’s most talented musicians perform 17th-century instrumental music by Lully, Couperin, Marais, Charpentier and others. By “Europe’s most talented musicians,” we are referring to, of course, Posh Spice and Rod Stewart.

Dionne Warwick and Her Band
Oct. 27 and 28
Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont St., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Boylston
$28 to $78, 800-233-3123
For over 45 years, Dionne Warwick has survived a career in pop music that has weathered everything from “That’s What Friends Are For” to the Psychic Friends Network. Incidentally, she knows if you’re planning on skipping her show at the Cutler, and she will not hesitate to send Burt Bacharach to your house to lullaby you to death.

‘Blues and Teo: A Musical Tribute to Teo Leyasmeyer’ Oct. 28 Regent Theatre 7 Medford St., Arlington MBTA: Red Line to Alewife $25 to $30, 781-646-4849 This all-star tribute to Teo Leyasmeyer, a Boston music scene legend who died last year from liver cancer, features Darrell Nulisch, Mike Welch, Brian Templeton, David Maxwell, Mighty Sam McLain, Sax Gordon, Ricky King Russell, Jeff Pitchell, Jerry Portnoy, Michael Mudcat Ward, Per Hanson, Peter Hi-Fi Ward, Racky Thomas, Nick Adams, Matt McCabe, Ted Drodzowski and others. Phew! (Proceeds benefit the Teo Leyasmeyer Family Fund.)

November Music
Paved Paradise: The Songs of Joni Mitchell Nov. 1 through Nov. 4 Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA 527 Tremont St., Boston MBTA: Orange Line to Back Bay $20 to $48, 617-933-8600 www.bostontheatrescene.com John Kelly, an Elliot Norton Award-winning performance artist, pays visual and musical homage to the great Canadian songstress in a role that the New York Times calls “transformation through spiritual osmosis.” It’s just like seeing the real Joni Mitchell, only with better legs.
‘La bohème’ Nov. 2 through Nov. 13 Citi Shubert Theatre 270 Tremont St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Boylston $33 to $121, 617-542-6772 www.blo.org Puccini’s endearing tearjerker about les artistes Français, which has been recognized as the most-produced opera in North America, returns once more to Boston.

‘Family Discovery Concert: Celebrate America with Yankee Doodle and the Orchestra’
Nov. 3
Sorenson Center @ Babson College
Park Manor South, Babson Park
MBTA: Green Line to Woodland
$8 to $14, 617-527-9717
www.newphil.org
The New Phil presents a kid-friendly musical afternoon. First, get acquainted with the members of the orchestra through Yankee Doodle, and then stick around after the concert for the Instrument Petting Zoo, where you can try out all the instruments. Don’t be afraid kids, they don’t bite! Well, maybe just the oboe, but its bite is more of a nip, really.

Opera Institute Student Recitals Nov. 3 through Nov. 4 Boston University Theatre 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston MBTA: Green Line to Symphony Free, 617-353-8600 www.bu.edu/cfa In this special event, members of the Opera Institute perform in recital, featuring concert and operatic repertoire in an unconventional setting. Don’t be late, because they have to be back at the Institute by dusk.

Rosa por Berklee Nov. 8 Berklee Performance Center 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MBTA: Green Line to Hynes/ICA $25, 617-747-2261 www.berkleebpc.com The Brazilian singer/songwriter Rosa Passos performs in concert with Berklee students and faculty. In addition to her original songs, she’ll play the songs of Gilberto Gil, Jobim, Djavan and Joao Bosco.

Cantata Singers & Ensemble: Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Weill’s Legend of the Dead Soldier Nov. 9 Jordan Hall at NE Conservatory 30 Gainsborough St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Symphony $15 to $54, 617-868-5885 www.cantatasingers.org Carl Orff’s freaky-deaky “Carmina Burana” is complemented by Kurt Weill’s ballad “Legend of the Dead Solider” in this performance by the Cantata Singers & Ensemble. “Carmina Burana” allegedly “captures the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, and the pleasures (and perils) of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust,” but mostly it just scares the living crap out of us.

Chorus pro Musica: Ames’ Requiem for Our Time and Fauré’s Requiem Nov. 9 Old South Church 645 Boylston St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Copley Square $15 to $45, 617-267-7442 www.choruspromusica.org If you’re a Requiem enthusiast, you are psyched. Roger Ames’ “Requiem for Our Time,” which combines the Latin text of the Mass for the Dead with the poetry of Anne Sexton, and Faure’s “Requiem,” are featured together on the same bill.

Crooked Still & Carolina Chocolate Drops Nov. 9 Sanders Theatre 45 Quincy St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $22 to $28, 617-876-4275 www.worldmusic.org Cello, banjo and double bass provide the backbone for Crooked Still’s modernist take on traditional acoustic music; the band got its start here in Boston. They hit the stage of the Sanders Theatre with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a trio that draws inspiration from old-timey string band music of the black Piedmont.

The Big Oh! Nov. 10 First Congregational Church 11 Garden St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $10 to $40, 617-499-4860 www.bostonsecession.org Featuring musical selections from Pergolesi to Rossini, Barber, Schoenberg and Bruckner, this “let-’er-rip romp” is “a seductively silly, positively PG-13 program that takes a humorous look at love ‘from both sides, now’.” Whew! Pass me that fan! Did the heat just go up in this church, or is it just me?

Laughing Pizza Nov. 10 Regent Theatre 7 Medford St., Arlington MBTA: Red Line to Alewife $10 to $12, 781-646-4849 www.regenttheatre.com It’s a family affair when Laughing Pizza hits the Regent for an all-ages show. Laughing Pizza is a husband and wife duo supplemented by their 11 year-old daughter. Perhaps you’re laughing because their name is Laughing Pizza, but the reason they’re laughing is because they have a major-label record contract and you don’t.

The Civic Symphony Orchestra of Boston Nov. 11 Jordan Hall at NE Conservatory 30 Gainsborough St., Boston MBTA: Green Line to Symphony $23 to $28, 617-923-6333 www.csob.org Virginia Eskin is the featured soloist in the CSO’s performance of MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2.  Meanwhile, Max Hobart conducts Chadwick’s “Noel,” Larry Bell’s “What Goes Around Comes Around,” and Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony.

‘These Charming People’ Nov. 11 Longy School of Music One Follen St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $15 to $20, 617-254-1125 www.amclass.org It’s George and Ira Gershwin time, all the time, in this celebration of their music featuring a host of local talent. Not to be confused with “This Charming Man,” a Morrissey tribute that some Smiths fanatic is hosting a few doors down the road.

Asleep at the Wheel with Duke Levine Band Nov. 14 Regent Theatre 7 Medford St., Arlington MBTA: Red Line to Alewife $27.50 to $37.50 (781) 646-4849 www.regenttheatre.com Boston’s Duke Levine Band does the honors for the nine-time Grammy-winning Western swing band from Texas. Asleep at the Wheel has been around for almost 40 years now, which is damn near an eternity in band years.

Barbra & Frank: The Concert That Never Was… Nov. 16 and 17 Regent Theatre 7 Medford St., Arlington MBTA: Red Line to Alewife $22.50 to $37.50 (781) 646-4849 www.regenttheatre.com Celebrity impersonator tag teams are like two-headed monsters: it’s best to simply leave them alone and unprovoked, and they will rock you in an approximate fashion and move on. This is especially true when the celebrities being impersonated are icons like Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra who, thanks to Sharon Owens and Sebastian Anzaldo, get to experience a fantasy duet in this Regent show.

Richard Stoltzman & the British are Coming! Nov. 16 Faneuil Hall 4 South Market Building, Boston MBTA: Orange Line to State St. $32 to $57, 617-423-3883 www.bostonclassicalorchestra.org The “superstar clarinetist” performs Gerald Finzi’s “Clarinet Concerto” in his debut appearance with the BCO. Artie Shaw never had it so good! Included are works by Elgar and Holst.

Zakir Hussain and Rahul Sharma Nov. 16 Sanders Theatre 45 Quincy St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $28 to $37, 617-876-4275 www.worldmusic.org Son of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Rahul Sharma plays the santoor, a type of hammered dulcimer whose strings are struck with a pair of light, carved wooden mallets. For this concert of north Indian classical music, Sharma will be accompanied by India’s great tabla player Zakir Hussain. Zoning out and feigning the consumption of drugs will commence.

Les Voix Humaines: Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri Nov. 24 First Congregational Church 11 Garden St., Cambridge MBTA: Red Line to Harvard $25 to $64, 617-661-1812 www.bemf.org A cycle of seven cantatas based on a 13th-century poem by Arnulf of Louvain will be performed by a group of singers and instrumentalists. Each movement of the program is addressed to a different part of Christ’s crucified body: feet, knees, hands, side, chest, heart and head. Ouch, man.

Youssou N’Dour & the Super Étoile de Dakar Nov. 24 Somerville Theatre 55 Davis Square, Somerville MBTA: Red Line to Davis Square $32 to $42, 617-876-4275 www.worldmusic.org Best known to American audiences for his appearance on Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” Youssou N’Dour’s own music is a mix of traditional Senegalese rhythms with the sweet tang of Afro-pop. He hits the Somerville Theatre with his band, the Super Étoile de Dakar, but don’t ask him to raise a boombox above his head.

 Wicked Winds
Nov. 25
Sanders Theatre
45 Quincy St., Cambridge
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard
$15 to $50, 617-779-0900
www.proarte.org
Under the direction of guest conductor Markand Thakar, Music Director of the Duluth Superior Symphony and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston shows off its brass and woodwinds with deft runs through R. Strauss’ “Suite in B-flat Major,” Stravinsky’s “Octet” and Brahms’ “Serenade No. 2 in A Major.”