ROREM, RAVEL, AND RAGS This unusual program from Romanian violinist and Boston Trio member Irina Muresanu and Italian pianist Roberto Plano proposes to explore “classical music mixed with American blues and Spanish melodies, all connected by the works of Maurice Ravel.’’ The bill will include works by American Pulitzer winners Ned Rorem and William Bolcom and the great ragtime composer Scott Joplin. Oct. 19, 6 p.m. $35-$40. Boston Athenaeum. 617-227-0270, www.bostonathenaeum.org
RY X Born Ry Cuming, Australian songwriter-producer RY X has made albums with electronic bands the Acid and Howling, but he comes to the ICA in support of his first full-length album as RY X, “Dawn,’’ whose lyrics include this from “Salt’’: “We let love be like water to wine/We let love be the higher design/We let love be a call in the night/We let love be the fire divine.’’ RY X’s opening act is Cambridge-based musician Russell Glynn, whose latest release, “Examples Of,’’ has a track titled “Wouldn’t Know a Drone If It Killed Me.’’ Oct. 27, 8 p.m. $17-$20. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3103, www.icaboston.org
RENAISSANCE MEN Just 2½ years old, Boston’s Renaissance Men started out as an early-music a cappella group whose first concert was heavy on the works of 16th-century composer Jacob Handl. They’ve since updated their repertoire to include American religious and folk music, accompanying themselves on the likes of banjo and upright bass. For this Gardner concert, “Ren Men 1965,’’ they’ll be featuring music written in 1965, but they’ll also have a brand-new composition, “Five Clippings From 1965,’’ by 17-year-old Phillips Academy Andover graduate Charles Stacy III, that takes its texts from the 1965 Boston Globe. Oct. 30, 1:30 p.m. $12-$27. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org
BETH MORRISON PROJECTS PRESENTS ‘SONG FROM THE UPROAR’ The 2012 creation of Beth Morrison Projects, which brought the “Ouroboros’’ trilogy to the Cutler Majestic Theatre last month, “Song From the Uproar’’ is a song cycle based on the life of Swiss explorer and writer Isabelle Eberhardt, who in the late-19th century moved to Algeria, converted to Islam, married an Algerian soldier, and became a journalist. Eberhardt died in a flash flood in 1904, just 27 years old, but some of her writings were rescued and inspired the libretto by Royce Vavrek and Missy Mazzoli. Mazzoli wrote the music for the cycle; there’s film by Steven Taylor, and this performance will feature mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer and the Firebird Ensemble. Nov. 3, 7 p.m. $5-$15. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org
ISABELLE FAUST AND ALEXANDER MELNIKOV Celebrated German violinist Isabelle Faust, who played the Berg Violin Concerto with Andris Nelsons and the BSO last November, teams with Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov for a complete performance of the Beethoven Sonatas for Violin and Piano, on three successive Sundays. Nov. 6, 13, and 20. $12-$27. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org
DUO MARESIENNE & SPECIAL GUESTS The Somerville Museum’s 28th season of “Early Music Afternoons’’ kicks off with “Affetti Musicali: Virtuoso Music of the Italian Early Baroque,’’ for which countertenor and cornettist Michael Collver joins Duo Maresienne’s Carol Lewis (viola da gamba) and Olav Chris Henriksen (archlute and baroque guitar) in works by Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Castello, Saracini, d’India, and Bassani. Nov. 13, 3 p.m. $15-$20. Somerville Museum. 617-666-9810, www.somervillemuseum.org
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS: ’50 SONG MEMOIR’ Finishing off a two-week residency at Mass MoCA, “69 Love Songs’’ maestro Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields perform their upcoming album “50 Song Memoir,’’ celebrating Merritt’s “five decades on planet Earth, from his conception by hippies on a houseboat in St. Thomas to his current position as one of America’s greatest living songwriters.’’ (He actually turned 50 in February 2015, but who’s counting?) The 50 songs will be presented over two evenings. Both shows will feature 50 years of musical and decorative artifacts, and band members will play 50 instruments from Merritt’s collection, which includes something called a Swarmatron. Nov. 18-19, 8 p.m. $35-$55; “advance combo’’ $60. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams. 413-662-2111, www.massmoca.org
A CELEBRATION OF YEHUDI WYNER Ecce Ensemble celebrates composer/educator Yehudi Wyner, who apart from being a Boston institution is a Pulitzer and Grammy winner and president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The evening includes selections from Wyner’s “Commedia’’ as well as “Concert Duo,’’ “Trio 2009,’’ and “Refrain,’’ plus a discussion moderated by composer Martin Brody. Nov. 21, 6 p.m. $15-$30. Boston Athenaeum. 617-227-0270, www.bostonathenaeum.org
FAMILY HOLIDAY CONCERT WITH MISTER G Ben Gundersheimer, better known as Mister G, won a 2015 Latin Grammy for his children’s album “Los Animales.’’ For this concert, he’ll be performing holiday classics as well as his own compositions. Dec. 2, 6:30 p.m. $10-$25. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. 413-458-0524, www.clarkart.edu
“BETTY WHO FEATURING KNOWER’’ Curated by Shea Rose and Simone Scazzocchio, the Gardner Museum’s RISE series spotlights pop, rock, and hip-hop artists. This concert is headlined by Australian singer-songwriter and Berklee College of Music grad Betty Who; also on the bill are LA funk-pop duo Knower and Boston Arts Academy student Safiyyah Johnson. Dec. 8, 7 p.m. $12-$27. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org
DINOSAUR JR. It’s been a typical rock-band arc: formed in Amherst in 1984, broke up in 1989, reunited in 2005. What makes Dinosaur Jr. different is that the reunited edition — with the original lineup of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph — has been going longer than the initial version did, and has even released more albums. Now alt-rock elder statesmen, Mascis, Barlow, and Murph bring their new “Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not’’ to Mass MoCA’s Hunter Center. Dec. 10, 8 p.m. $28-$46. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams. 413-662-2111, www.massmoca.org
THE BRIDGE BETWEEN STRINGS The Back Bay String Quartet boasts an unusual lineup: violin, viola, cello, and, yes, guitar. The group was founded last month by classical guitarist Tye Austin, who’s performed with Sharon Isbin, Eliot Fisk, and Bela Fleck. Austin says he’s aiming “to bridge the divide between plucked and bowed string instruments.’’ For this concert, the group’s debut, he’ll be joined by violinist Daniel Cho, violist Leonid Plashinov-Johnson, and cellist Peiyao Guo, all from New England Conservatory. Dec. 11, 1 p.m. $25-$35. Boston Athenaeum, Boston. 617-227-0270, www.bostonathenaeum.org
MILLENNIUM GOSPEL CHOIR This local gospel choir makes its annual holiday visit to the MFA. Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 17, 2 p.m. $20-$30. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
Jeffrey Gantz can be reached at jeffreymgantz@gmail.com.
