The top classical music and dance performances of the fall

SAN FRANCISCO ORCHESTRA

With conductor Michael Tilson Thomas

Oct. 5, Tilles Center, Post LIU, Brookville; Oct. 3 and 4, Carnegie Hall 

In the highest-profile symphony orchestra concert in the Long Island fall season, Thomas leads the orchestra for whom he serves as music director in an all-Stravinsky program featuring “The Rite of Spring,” “Patrushka” and the violin concerto featuring soloist Leonidas Kavakos. If you can’t make the Tilles date, you’ll have plenty of chances to see Thomas conducting at Carnegie Hall, where he opens the season Oct. 3 with a gala starring opera star Renee Fleming and Broadway star Audra McDonald. In honor of his 100th Carnegie performance in his career, Thomas is saluted in the Carnegie’s Perspectives series, conducting Oct. 4 (the same program as at Tilles) and again in the spring, leading the Vienna Philharmonic and the New World Symphony in the premiere of Thomas’ “Four Preludes on Playthings in the Wind.”

INFO 516-299-3100, tillescenter.org; 212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org

AILEY 60

Nov. 28 to Dec. 30, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Center, 131 W. 55th St., Manhattan

In its longest season ever, the Ailey company observes its 60th anniversary with premiere performances of works created by some of the most acclaimed choreographers who have emerged during the troupe’s history. Among them are Rennie Harris’ “Lazarus,” Ailey’s first two-act work inspired by the company’s late namesake founder. Other premieres include Ronald K. Brown’s modern African dance piece “The Call,” Wayne McGregor’s contemporary ballet “Kairos,” and Jessica Lang making her first contribution to the Ailey repertoire with “EN.” Not forgetting the classics, the season also embraces standards by Robert Battle, Judith Jamison and, of course, Alvin Ailey.

INFO 212-405-9000, alvinailey.org

TOSCA

Oct. 6 and 7, Madison Theatre at Molloy College, Rockville Centre

Opera at the Madison presents Puccini’s classic live on stage. (This is not a Met simulcast!) Puccini’s tale of murder and political intrigue set in turn-of-the-19th-century Rome is accompanied by the South Shore Symphony conducted by Scott Jackson Wiley.

INFO 516-323-4444, madisontheatreny.org

FLAMENCA PASION
Eduardo Guerrero’s Compania Flamenca

Oct. 13, Staller Center, Stony Brook University; Oct. 14, Madison Theatre at Molloy College, Rockville Centre

Dance may be a passion for some, but passionate dance — as in flamenco — is something on a far different, if parallel, temperamental plane. Spanish dancer and choreographer Guerrero tries to set the stage on fire, figuratively, with his feet.

INFO 631-632-2787, stallercenter.com; 516-323-4444, madisontheatreny.org

ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Nov. 9, Staller Center, Stony Brook University

A pair of innovative artists — Latvia’s Ksenija Sidorova on accordion and Israel’s Avi Avital on mandolin — seek to reinvent their instruments in a classical vernacular. Speaking of chamber groups, the nine-time Grammy-winning Emerson String Quartet opens its three-concert Staller season Dec. 5.

INFO 631-632-2787, stallercenter.com

HOLIDAY POPS

With the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra

Dec. 2, Tilles Center, Post LIU, Brookville

Holiday music favorites, the Pops singalong and a visit from Santa Claus: It’s a program, as they say, for kids from 1 to 92. Meanwhile, stay tuned for a possible New Year’s Eve gala by the Long Island Orchestra, continuing a tradition of the late Long Island Philharmonic. Nothing finalized yet. 

INFO 516-299-3100, tillescenter.org

JEWELS

Sept. 18 to 25, New York City Ballet, David Koch Theater, Lincoln Center

In 1967, George Balanchine visited Van Cleef & Arpels in Manhattan and was inspired to write “Jewels,” his three-part dance masterpiece reflecting the beauty of “Emeralds,” “Rubies” and “Diamonds.” Set to a Tchaikovsky score, “Jewels” sparkles again a half-century later.

INFO 212-496-0600, nycballet.com

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

Opening gala

Sept. 20, similar programs Sept. 21, 25 and 26, David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center

Welcome the Philharmonic’s new music director, Jaap van Zweden, in his inaugural concert (or its less-pricey follow-ups the next few evenings). Highlights include Ashley Fure’s composition written for this occasion and Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”

INFO 212-875-5656, nyphil.org

MARNIE

Oct. 19 to Nov. 10, Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center

Reimagining Winston Graham’s novel popularized by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 movie thriller, composer Nico Muhly’s second new opera commissioned by the Met stars mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in the title role and Christopher Maltman as her would-be suitor.

INFO 212-362-6000, metopera.org

THE GOOD SWIMMER

Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Fisher Theater, 321 Ashland Place

In a Next Wave Festival world premiere, composer Heidi Rodewald (“Passing Strange”) creates a pop-opera requiem drawn from lifeguard manuals as told through Donna DiNovell’s libretto, lamenting her brother’s death in Vietnam — a life she couldn’t save due to endless war.

INFO 718-636-4100, bam.org