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September 6
A Choir Fit for Royalty
The Kingdom Choir performed at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Can you ask for better credentials than that? But in case you’re still inexplicably on the fence, here’s a compellingly definitive blurb: This rare visit by a powerhouse UK gospel institution promises a historic blowout show of both secular and sacred classics. Sammy Davis Jr. Festival Plaza in Lorenzi Park, 720 Twin Lakes Drive, 7p, $25, 702-229-2787
September 7
The LV Phil’s Big Night
The opening night of the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s 2019-2020 season starts with a bang, featuring two seminal Russian orchestral works, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, as well as Anna Clyne’s Masquerade. Special guest, acclaimed violinist Francesca Dego, brings additional gravitas. This ambitious season opener reflects a reinvigorated philharmonic that is truly hitting its stride. Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center, 7:30p, $30-$110, thesmithcenter.com
(Other shows in the 2019-2020 season: Very Vegas Showcase, Oct. 12; The Music of Danny Elfman, Nov. 2; Handel’s Messiah, Dec. 6; A Classic Holiday, Dec. 7; Dvorak, Brahms, and Smetana, Jan. 18; Beethoven, Mozart, and Britten, Feb. 15; Vivaldi Four Seasons: March into the Stratosphere, March 7; Kurt Weill’s America, April 4; Season Finale: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, May 9)
September 11
Titanic Talent
The genre-bounding classical crossover institution known as Kronos Quartet is in a retrospective mood: In this special (and, whoa, cheap!) multimedia performance, the group tells its own grand story through live music, narration, archival footage, and filmed interviews with the countless luminaries who’ve collaborated with Kronos Quartet — Philip Glass, Wu Man, and Terry Riley, to name a few. It’s not just a celebration of the band, but a tribute to the spirit of restless innovation that has always been Kronos Quartet’s hallmark. UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall, 7:30p, $10, unlv.edu/pac
September 18
Get Your Goats
Mountain Goats courtesy of Mountain Goats
To be honest, if you stripped away the musical layer of swaying, shoegazy Americana from the sharply felt and humorously grim songs of The Mountain Goats, you’d have a perfectly awesome trove of poetry left over from singer and lyricist John Darnielle — who also happens to be a widely praised novelist (Wolf in White Van, Universal Harvester). The Mountain Goats’ latest album, In League with Dragons, is a concept album partially inspired by Darnielle’s love of tabletop role-playing games like D&D, an opus on which he considers mythic heroes domestic and fantastic, from pro athletes to level 79 battlemages. With Lydia Loveless. Brooklyn Bowl, 8p, $26, brooklynbowl.com
September 20
Cultural Treasure, in Sound
In this concert, the Nevada Chamber Orchestra pays tribute to a rich musical legacy: the Jewish composers of classical music. The Nevada Chamber Orchestra will perform acclaimed works by composers both classic and contemporary. Summerlin Library Theater, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, 7:30p, free, lvccld.org
September 21-22
Eclectic, Ecstatic, and Electric
The ingredients list for the supple, sunny, lilting music of Seffarine is a globetrotting jaunt in itself: Moroccan vocalist Lamiae Naki sings in Arabic, French, Spanish, Persian, and Portuguese; flamenco guitarist Nat Hulskamp, bassist Damian Erskine, and multi-instrumentalist Bobak Salehi meld Spanish flamenco, Persian classical, and Arabic and Andalusian sounds, with a touch of jazz. The result? Something exotic, ecstatic, electric, and eclectic. Sept. 21, West Charleston Library, 7:30p; Sept. 22, Clark County Library Jewel Box Theater, 2p, both free, lvccld.org
September 22
Escucha, Mi Amor!
Love has an image problem. By the conventions of reality TV, it’s all complicated and stormy and push and pull and hook-uppy; it’s angry, entitled, needy, lopsided, perverse. Whatevz! Bolero music — sweet, lithe, bucolic — reminds us of the forgotten pleasures of warm, abiding, serenely domestic, no-contrived-BS-drama-for-ratings-on-the-season-finale-of-The Bachelorette-type love. The Cuban musical genre gets the supergroup treatment as the legendary Mexican trio Los Dandys join up with Vegas’ very own singer Napoleon Buenrostro to spread the feels. Windmill Library, 2p, free, 702-507-3532
September 28
A Soundtrack for Life
Courtesy UNLV Fine Arts
The word “fusion” doesn’t do justice to the music of pianist and composer Keiko Matsui. Try this instead: Her artful mélange of jazz/classical/new age is like the soundtrack to the kind of epically poignant independent film that thoroughly wrings out your soul with joy, melancholy, laughter, sadness, gratitude, and delight. The Smith Center, 5p and 8p, $45-$65, thesmithcenter.com
October 10-11
Anything But Fool’s Gold
London-based Acoustic Alchemy’s contemporary guitar jazz is easygoing, sure, but don’t confuse that with easy. Intricate, vigorous, complex, and rich better describe the chain reaction they make onstage. Myron’s Cabaret Jazz in The Smith Center, 7p, $39-$59, thesmithcenter.com
October 11
You Want This Drama
Drama offers a chill slice of summer in October, with the Chicago-based duo serving up their soulful R&B dancewave tunes; singer Via Rosa’s trademark voice — at once earthy and ethereal — is an intoxicating cocktail in itself. Bunkhouse Saloon, 9p, $15, bunkhousedowntown.com
October 12
The Showcasiest Showcase Ever
Keith Thompson, mastermind behind The Composers Showcase — a late-night, martini-soaked, speakeasy-style typhoon of Strip pros belting out original numbers — has teamed up with the Las Vegas Philharmonic for the Very Vegas Showcase. The LV Phil will power up performances by Clint Holmes, Philip Fortenberry, Alexandria Le, Travis Cloer, and many more. Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center, 7:30p, $30-$110, thesmithcenter.com
October 19
Dare You to Try Not Dancing
Reggaeton — the happily hyperactive child of hip-hop, Latin music, and Caribbean sounds — is the definition of infectious, and J Balvin is its contemporary ambassador. The crossover Latin superstar is at the vanguard of second-generation reggaeton, known for its electronic influences, fruitful artist collaborations, and, of course, impossibly booty-shaking syncopation. The Pearl at the Palms, 8p, $55-$165, palms.com
October 20
The Sound and the Blurry
Yasmina Chavez is a photographer — well, actually, more like a lightographer. She uses light to directly “paint” photosensitive media, resulting in ghostly images that spark and entice the imagination. Jazz musician and UNLV professor Julian Tanaka is kicking off the reception for her exhibit, The Suchness of Light, with an art project of his own, performing songs to complement and converse with Chavez’s work. If the music is anything like Chavez’s fascinating images, expect an afternoon of bewitching sights and sounds. Summerlin Library, 3:30p (exhibit Oct. 17-Dec. 17), free, lvccld.org
October 25
Keeper of the Flamenco Flame
Paco de Lucía was a Flamenco guitar god whose musical legacy is nothing less than monolithic. His longtime collaborator, Javier Limón, is celebrating that legacy by assembling the original 10-piece band that performed with Lucía in the last decade of his career. But Flamenco Legends by Javier Limón: The Paco de Lucía Project” won’t be a mere greatest-hits retrospective; Limón himself is a Flamenco innovator often praised for infusing new energy into the revered musical form. UNLV’s Artemus Ham Concert Hall, 7:30p, $25-$35, unlv.edu/pac
October 26
Cerebral Surround Sound
Thom Yorke has a solo career that’s often overshadowed by his work with Radiohead, but it’s a serious canon in itself. In Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, Yorke will perform tracks from his extensive solo discography, with visual artist Tarik Barri creating gorgeous eyescapes to complement the music. Don’t expect a mere live music video; rather, an immersive, unified aesthetic experience that seamlessly blends sights and sounds into a complete vision. The Chelsea in The Cosmopolitan, 8p, $49, cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
October 30
Behold the Thudstaff!
Best known as the bassist for the Minutemen — the ’80s punk band that married spazzy, elastic rock with trenchantly woke geopolitical lyrics — Mike Watts hasn’t been content to rest on yesteryear’s laurels. Still pounding his “thudstaff,” he performs as Mike Watts + The Missingmen in a show that promises plenty of spazzing. The Bunkhouse Saloon, 9p, $20, bunkhousedowntown.com
November 1
From Australia, with Strings Attached
Dreamy and delicate, the music of the Grigoryan Brothers (Slava and Leonard) spans genres that belie the guitar-bros label: from classical to jazz to contemporary and more. The tagline “Australia’s finest guitar duo” — well, yeah, that. UNLV’s Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center, 7:30p, $45, 702-895-2787
November 2
Finally, A Use for Your Marge Simpson Costume
You don’t often see “Costumes are encouraged!” as a concert program note — then again, this is the Las Vegas Philharmonic performing the music of Danny Elfman, the composer who brought us the theme music to The Simpsons, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and so many more. Expect a rollicking night of virtuoso movie music, and lots of Edward Scissorhandses. Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center, 7:30p, $30-$110, thesmithcenter.com
November 9
Gin and Juice in a Goblet
Born as a novelty, today the mashup is an established form that’s touched everything from literature to music to movies — think books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, think musical artists like Girltalk. And yet the hip-hop/classical mashups unleashed by Ensemble Mik Nawooj go far beyond catchy novelties. This 10-piece outfit marries the epic sweep of classical music with hip-hop’s penchant for hyperbole and swagger, and the result makes perfect musical — and metaphysical — sense. Historic Fifth Street School, 7p, $25, artslasvegas.org
November 12
For Those About to Tauk
For jazzheads and jam junkies seeking their fix, this show is like an extended one-on-one with the candyman — or candymen, rather. Prog-jazz giants Tauk join with Jazz Is Phsh (a jazzed-out tribute to Phish, natch) for an evening of longplay psychedelic weerwangery. Brooklyn Bowl, 7p, $18-$328.13, brooklynbowl.com
November 13
Jazzing It Up, with Honors
Fall means another season of the richly pedigreed jazz (DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards! Monterey Jazz Festival and Village Vanguard shows! Jazz Times raves!) coming out of the UNLV School of Music’s Honors Jazz ensembles. Whether they’re blazing through standards or interpreting modern compositions, the Honors Jazz Quartet promises a rich season of beautiful sounds. Clark County Library Main Theater, 7p; other shows: 7p Sept. 11; 7p Oct. 9; 2p Nov. 3; 7p Nov. 13; and 7p Dec. 11, lvccld.org
November 17
Chop to the Heart
November 19
Smooooth
Bring your fedora and velvet loafers to this show. The Midnight Hour is a 10-piece supersmooth, lounge-optimized soul/jazz ensemble whose sultry tunes are like consensual sexymagic touching in a bottle — and, as you can see, those tunes suavely resist attempts at clever blurbification and turn them into ham-handed metaphor. Pro tip: Check out their amazing Tiny Desk concert at npr.org. Bunkhouse Saloon, 8p, $13, bunkhousedowntown.com
December 6
Going for Baroque
Fun fact: The grandiose Messiah as we know it was originally a much more modest work, and it was only after Handel’s death that it was supersized at the hands of other composers, including Mozart. But, hey, we’re talking about big ol’ goddy themes and magniloquent biblical sweep — so, yeah, why not go big? Part 1 of Handel’s Messiah is the marquee piece in the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s A Baroque Holiday, but the opening concertos by Manfredini and Corelli will serve as appetizers before the main course that is this joyous, soaring choral work. Reynolds Hall in The Smith Center, 7:30p, $30-$110, thesmithcenter.com
December 7
He’s Basically the Santa of Singing
Andrea Bocelli has become synonymous with the holidays, and rightfully so. And not just the capital-letter holidays, either. He’s like the go-to guy for Big Life Events — weddings, anniversaries, benchmark birthdays, private audiences with the Pope. The crossover opera sensation performs another holiday concert that has become a welcome Vegas tradition. MGM Grand Garden Arena, 8p, $133-$418.25, mgmresorts.com
December 17
You’re Hearing Voices
Voctave, an 11-member a cappella group from Orlando, gives seasonal songs the polyphonic choral treatment with family-favorite holiday tunes and Disney mainstays. If the last-minute shopping-mall gift hunt is driving you crazy, this will soothe your soul better than that lukewarm emotional support Panda Express orange chicken from the food court. UNLV’s Artemus Ham Concert Hall, 7:30p, $20-$50, 702-895-2787