Natalie Cole

"Avenue Q"

Natalie Cole/Roanoke Symphony Orchestra

No offense to the beautiful and masterfully talented violinist Natasha Korsakova, whose performance on Oct. 5 launches the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra’s 2009-2010 season, but it’s the appearance of nine-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist Natalie Cole in November that will likely have us seeing stars.

She won her most recent Grammy in February for her newest album, “Still Unforgettable,” which features yet another posthumous duet with her equally famous father, Nat King Cole, called “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home.”  Showing no signs of problems from the kidney transplant she underwent in May, she’s touring now and receiving rave reviews.

When: Nov. 5

Where: Salem Civic Center

Tickets: $19 to $64

"Avenue Q"

Roanoke Valley residents searching for an arts fix may face a tough choice Nov. 5, because as Natalie Cole croons in Salem, the traveling cast of the Broadway smash "Avenue Q" will be making puppets sing at the Roanoke Civic Center.

The musical is a decidedly adult riff on "Sesame Street" that features characters -- human, puppet, and monster -- who are in their 20s and 30s, down and out in a New York neighborhood and dealing with grown-up issues.

The musical numbers include the viral YouTube staples "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet is for Porn." The Tony Award-winning production closes on Broadway this week after a six-year run.

"Avenue Q" is part of the civic center's "Broadway in Roanoke" series, which kicks off its 2009-10 season Oct. 6 with the musical and acrobatic performance "Cirque Dreams Illumination."

When: Nov. 5

Where: Roanoke Performing Arts Theater, Roanoke Civic Center.

Tickets: On sale Oct. 2

Info: 853-5483; www.roanokeciviccenter.com

"TIES"

This production choreographed by Southwest Virginia Ballet director Pedro Szalay explores the history of the railroad in the Roanoke Valley through dance and stage sets.

Throw in the photographs of O. Winston Link, the music of Yo-Yo Ma and original songs by David Austin and his band Buck Cannon & the Atta Boys, and "TIES" promises to be a unique collaborative experience.

"Our costume changes will flit through history like the children, parents and grandparents of O. Winston Link's photographs," Szalay writes about his first solo choreography production.

When: Oct. 3

Where: Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center.

Tickets: $17-$30 adults, $1-$17 students

Info: 345-2550; jeffcenter.org

Christian McBride & Inside Straight

Emerging artist Christian McBride was recently compared to Wynton Marsalis by "O, the Oprah Magazine," and who are we to question the wisdom of Oprah?

McBride, an upright-bass player, leads a quintet specializing in acoustic jazz. The native of Philadelphia has toured or recorded with artists ranging from Herbie Hancock to Natalie Cole to Sting.

Speaking of Marsalis, the legendary jazz musician once performed McBride's composition "Bluesin' in Alphabet City" with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

When: Oct. 4

Where: Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center.

Tickets: $24-$28

Info: 345-2550; jeffcenter.org

"Wagner in the Valley"

The budget-streamlined Opera Roanoke won't be putting on full stage productions during its 2009-10 season, but artistic director Steven White has aimed to turn a handicap into an advantage with a concert performance of the most grandiose of all opera composers, German master Richard Wagner.

"Wagner in the Valley" offers samplings from Wagner's epic tragedies, including "Tristan und Isolde," "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" and the 13-hour "Ring of the Nibelung," often cited as a precursor to J.R.R. Tolkien's famous novel "The Lord of the Rings."

Even if you don't know the story, if you've ever watched "Apocalypse Now" or Bugs Bunny cartoons, you certainly have heard "Ride of the Valkyries." Bet you're humming it now.

When: Oct. 17

Where: Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center

Tickets: $20-$90

Info: 982-2742; www.operaroanoke.org

"Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt's Etchings from the John Villarino Collection"

Though Dutch artist Rembrandt died in 1669, his name remains almost synonymous with painting all these centuries later.

In November, the Taubman Museum of Art will open an exhibit of 35 of his rare etchings, all of beggars, that show how the master often portrayed these subjects as Biblical figures, blending street life with sacred text.

Museum art director David Brown plans to pair the Rembrandt etchings with "Jumpstart and Holler," an exhibit of composite woodcuts by artists Mike Houston and Martin Mazzora that explores the theme of the beggar in modern society.

When: Nov. 20-Feb. 7

Where: Taubman Museum of Art.

Admission: $10.50, adults

Info: 342-5760; www.taubmanmuseum.org

"Poetry Rules: An Evening with Nikki Giovanni"

Poet Nikki Giovanni brought a crowd in mourning to their feet as she chanted "We will prevail!" in Cassell Colosseum the day after the Virginia Tech shootings.

A member of the university's English Department faculty, Giovanni has written more than a dozen books of poetry as well as illustrated children's books, and her spoken-word recordings have earned a Grammy nomination. Her essays contemplating racial injustice have been collected in the book "Racism 101."

When: Sept. 28

Where: duPont Chapel, Hollins University.

Tickets: $8 at door, $5 students.

Roanoke Arts Festival

The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge has taken over the Roanoke Arts Festival from the City of Roanoke and revamped it as the beginning of "40 Days + 40 Nights," a monthlong celebration highlighting arts-related events throughout the Roanoke Valley.

Tickets to the festival -- themed "City Soul!" -- get you into a number of the events mentioned in this calendar, including "TIES" and the Natasha Korsakova and Christian McBride concerts, as well as the Roanoke City Art Show and the "Soul of the Studio" variety show at Studio Roanoke.

Once the festival ends, the "40+40" promotions continue, culminating Nov. 9 in the one-year anniversary of the Taubman Museum's grand opening.

When: Oct. 1-5

Where: various downtown Roanoke locations.

Tickets: $57.50 (a pass to all events)

Info: 342-5790 ext. 4; www.theartscouncil.org

Elisabeth von Trapp

The story of the von Trapp family and their escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was famously dramatized in "The Sound of Music."

It might not surprise you to learn that Elisabeth von Trapp, granddaughter of Maria and Georg von Trapp, has been professionally singing since childhood, and will bring her famous family's passion for music to downtown Roanoke.

Her repertoire includes Rodgers and Hammerstein and Mozart, opera, gospel, pop and her own original compositions.

When: Oct. 1

Where: Greene Memorial United Methodist Church, downtown Roanoke

Cost: Free

Info: 344-6225; www.gmumc.org.

Kandinsky Trio

The Roanoke College-based chamber group -- pianist Elizabeth Bachelder, cellist Alan Weinstein and violinist Benedict Goodfriend -- starts its 22nd season with Robert Schumann's trio in D minor in honor of the composer's 200th birthday. Also featured will be Haydn's "Jacob's Dream" trio in E Flat Minor and Turina's "Circulo."

The Trio continues a tradition of comical promotional fliers with a new season brochure presented in panels like a comic book, in which the musicians puzzle whether there's a term for a 22nd anniversary akin to gold or silver.

When: Sept. 26

Where: Olin Hall, Roanoke College

Tickets: $20; seniors, $12

Info: 375-2333; www.roanoke.edu