Leading role
CHORAL BOSTON Nicholas White leads his first concert as music director of Boston Cecilia on Saturday at All Saints Church in Brookline, and Jamie Kirsch conducts his first concert as music director of Chorus Pro Musica on Sunday at Old South Church. Also Sunday, the Back Bay Chorale pays tribute to Wagner and Verdi at Sanders Theatre, and Commonwealth Lyric Theater honors Verdi too, but this time alongside the composers Semyon Hulak-Artemovsky and Alexander Dargomyzhsky, at Center Makor in Brighton. www.bostoncecilica.org, www.choruspromusica.org, www.backbaychorale.org, www.commonwealthlyrictheater.com
JEREMY EICHLER
Pop & Rock
BIG FREEDIA All this talk about twerking — and Miley Cyrus’s appropriation of it — has put the spotlight back on Big Freedia, who’s considered the queen of bounce music, the New Orleans scene that begat twerking. A Big Freedia show is all about the audience: Don’t be surprised if you’re pulled onstage to see how well you shimmy and shake. Local musician and DJ Nathanael Bluhm will get the party started. Oct. 31, 9 p.m. Tickets: $18, $16 in advance. The Sinclair, Cambridge. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
COLIN MELOY In between albums with the Decemberists, his regular band, Meloy often heads out for solo tours. As usual, he’ll be selling a tour-only EP of covers. This time it’s “Colin Meloy Sings the Kinks,” which comes after his interpretations of Morrissey, Shirley Collins, and Sam Cooke. Eleanor Friedberger, taking a break from the Fiery Furnaces with a terrific new solo album, “Personal Record,” will open. Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $33. Somerville Theatre. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
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POLIÇA As the voice of Poliça, Channy Leaneagh casts a ghostly pall over the Minneapolis’s icy brand of synth-pop. She somehow makes sullen and sultry a winning combination on “Shulamith,” the group’s new follow-up to last year’s “Give You the Ghost.” Nov. 4, 8 p.m. Tickets: $18, $16 in advance. Paradise Rock Club. 800-745-3000, www.ticket master.com
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MIDLAKE From the breakthrough success of the pastoral “The Trials of Van Occupanther” in 2006 to the British folk-rock of “The Courage of Others” four years later, the only consistency in Midlake’s catalog is its penchant for widescreen ideas. “Antiphon,” the Texas band’s latest release (first without former frontman Tim Smith), is similarly sprawling, with a languid psychedelic bent. Nov. 5, 9 p.m. Tickets: $17, $15 in advance. Brighton Music Hall. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
JAMES REED
Folk, World & Country
THE LAMPLIGHTER SESSIONS Peter Mulvey returns for his annual thematic stand, with this year's iteration running for five nights. It finds Mulvey and a varying cast of accomplices covering the songs of Greg Brown, marking All Saints’ Day in the round, offering Luthier Night in a duo format, and performing Tom Waits’s “Rain Dogs” in its entirety. Oct. 31, Nov. 3, 4, 7 p.m.; Nov. 1, 2, 8 p.m. Tickets: $20-$30/night. Club Passim, Cambridge. 617-492-7679, www.passim.org
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND More than anything else, YMSB is a live band, which is why the band's catalog includes as many live releases as studio albums (each straightforwardly titled "Mountain Tracks" and now up to volume five), and why their website offers a huge archive of live shows for download. They'll turn the House of Blues into a house of jammy bluegrass Friday night. Nov. 1, 8 p.m. Tickets: $25. House of Blues. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com
FEDERICO AUBELE The name of Federico Aubele’s 2007 release, “Panamericana,” was derived from the Pan-American Highway and served as shorthand for the Argentine’s mélange of singer-songwriter, tango and other Latin elements, dub, and electronic music. Wednesday, he’ll be supported by Leif Vollebekk who, coincidentally, recently released a record titled “North Americana.” Nov. 6, 9 p.m. Tickets: $12. Red Room at Café 939. 617-747-2262, www.cafe939.com
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SALLIE FORD & THE SOUND OUTSIDE/MOUNT MORIAH An alt-countryish twin-billing featuring two killer vocalists from the distaff side: Sallie Ford draws on vintage Americana sounds and infuses them with rock-and-roll urgency, while Heather McEntire and Mount Moriah achieve a different sort of intensity — restrained, moody, electric — with their music. Nov. 6, 9:15 p.m. Tickets: $12. Lizard Lounge, Cambridge. 800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com
STUART MUNRO
Jazz, Blues & Cabaret
DORADO SCHMITT & THE DJANGO REINHARDT FESTIVAL ALLSTARS The joyous Gypsy string jazz of guitar great Reinhardt has worthy present-day disciples in Schmitt and his gang, whose annual appearances are eagerly anticipated.Oct. 31. $25-$30, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Regattabar. 617-395-7757, www.regattabar jazz.com
ROBERT RANDOLPH PRESENTS: THE SLIDE BROTHERS Randolph was the first player from the “Sacred Steel” tradition of the House of God Church to achieve widespread fame. Here, he assembles his forbears and peers — Chuck and Darick Campbell, Aubrey Ghent, and Calvin Cooke — for a searing celebration of sacred and secular blues, gospel, and rock. Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $19-$39. Larcom Theatre, 13 Wallis St., Beverly. 978-525-9093, www.gimmelive.tv/Slide Bro.cfm
AARDVARK JAZZ ORCHESTRA Boston’s progressive big band continues its 41st season with “Bluesology & More,” focusing on musical director Mark Harvey’s social and political compositions and including the premiere of “Tritonista.” Nov. 2, 8 p.m. MIT’s Killian Hall, 160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge. 617-452-3205, www.aardvarkjazz.com
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NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY’S HALLOWE’EN FILM NOIR CONCERT NEC’s impresario of improv, pianist/composer Ran Blake, presents the 9th annual multimedia extravaganza in which trombonist Aaron Hartley’s Storyboard Noir Ensemble and other NEC students, alum, and faculty, improvise live scores for films. This year’s movies, directed by Hollywood boundary-breaker Otto Preminger, are “Laura” (1944) and “Whirlpool” (1949), both of which feature the haunting beauty of Gene Tierney. Nov. 5, 8 p.m. Free. NEC’s Jordan Hall. www.necmusic.edu
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
ANDRAS SCHIFF The formidable Hungarian pianist returns to Boston with a recital program pairing Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations with Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations. Nov. 1, 8 p.m. Jordan Hall. 617-482-6661, www.celebrity series.org
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Charles Dutoit leads the first of two subscription programs, featuring works by Ravel, Elgar, and Penderecki. Oct. 31-Nov. 5. Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY Grant Llewellyn returns to the H&H podium with works by Haydn, Mozart (Symphony No. 35) and Beethoven (Symphony No. 2). Nov. 1, 3. Symphony Hall. 617-266-3605 or www.handelandhaydn.org
JEREMY EICHLER