Jan. 10-Feb. 9, InterAct Theatre Company, 2030 Sansom St., 215-568-8077. Seth Rozin directs the world premiere of Tom Coash's play, in which an Egyptian student and a British journalist fall in love, with earth-shaking results.

A Night with Dame Edna

Edna (Mrs. Norman) Everage is the funniest human on the planet, and her show takes audience participation to new heights. Believe me: There is nothing like this Dame.

By the Bog of Cats

Feb. 11-23, Villanova Theatre, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, 610-519-7474. 'Tis the season for Medea, it seems. Even as Fiona Shaw holds sway on Broadway, here we have a modern adaptation by Irish playwright Marina Carr. This Cats promises dark humor as well as horror and is directed by Harriet Power. Best of all, nobody sings "Memory."

The Crucible

Feb. 28-March 24, Vagabond Acting Troupe, Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom St., 610-286-5567. Arthur Miller's riveting parable about McCarthyism remains a theatrical tour de force. With that superb actor Charlie DelMarcelle directing, it sounds like once again -- it's Miller time!

The Guys

March 4-9, Penn Presents, Zellerbach Theatre/Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900. Even those who feel inundated by art about 9/11 might make an exception for this new play by Anne Nelson, wherein a journalist and a fire captain elegize fallen heroes. The Guys comes to us via Los Angeles' edgy and acclaimed Actors' Gang, and features the excellent Cynthia Ettinger and Brent Hinkley.

Big Love

March 19-April 20, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824. In Charles L. Mee's play, 50 runaway brides escape to an Italian villa. The Wilma production promises a little bit of everything, and who better to direct than Jiri Zizka, who did so well this season with Tom Stoppard's complex Every Good Boy Deserves Favor.

When the War is Over/The World Owes Me a Living

April 2-26, Mum Puppettheatre, 115 Arch St., 215-925-7686. We don't know too many details about Robert Smythe's "tribute to people who are only remembered by children and grandchildren." But after his triumph last fall with The Madwoman of Chaillot, we'll follow the writer/director/puppeteer extraordinaire anywhere.

Macbeth

April 4-May 18, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, 2111 Sansom St., 215-496-9722. Macbeth may be Shakespeare's most muscular and easy-to-follow play; no wonder it remains a favorite for all ages, and a particularly good way to introduce the young'uns to the joys of the Bard. PSF Artistic Director Carmen Khan promises a new take on the play, and Philly fave E. Ashley Izard will be the Lady.

Green Violin

April 26-May 18, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., 215-569-9700. "Art and music, these have I lived for," sings Puccini's Tosca. If you agree, try this musical play by Elise Thoron and Rebecca Bayla Taichman, about painter Marc Chagall and his work in the Yiddish Theater.

Bat Boy

May 16-June 15, 1812 Productions, Adrienne Theatre, 215-592-9560. Laurence O'Keefe's off-Broadway favorite -- a bizarre tale of a mutant who is half boy, half bat -- becomes 1812's first book musical. But anyone who knows the company's sublime way with a song will already be queuing up for tickets.

Once in a Lifetime

May 21-June 15, People's Light & Theatre Co., 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, 610-644-3500. Kaufman and Hart's hilarious farce about the idiocies of Hollywood movie-making in the 1920s is ideal for an ensemble theater, and Lou Jacob's production should crown PL&T's season of Americana.

Pacific Overtures

May 22-June 22, Arden Theatre, 40 N. Second St., 215-922-1122. This musical -- about the forced opening of Japan to American trade interests -- was Stephen Sondheim's contribution to the U.S. bicentennial, and remains his most overtly political work. It's also one of his most beautiful, yet is infrequently produced. How nice that longtime Sondheim aficionado Terry Nolen, who has brought more of the master's work to Philadelphia than any other director, will help correct the oversight.

If the fall dance slate was a bit fallow, the winter-into-spring rosters more than pick up the slack. Things get busy right from the start and the pace does not let up. Here are selected highlights of the upcoming season:

DANCE

DanceBoom!

Jan. 22-Feb. 9, Wilma Theater, Broad and Spruce sts., 215-546-7824. This year's festival of local dance deliberately mixes things up by putting acts with different styles on the same bill. Two picks from the pack: On Jan. 22, 26, 31, Feb. 2 and 9, the triple bill of LaVaughn Robinson and Germaine Ingram, Pasión Y Arte and Natya -- a dynamic duo of traditional tappers, an all-female flamenco group and Indian Bharathanatyam make this a mini-global summit of dance; then on Jan. 25, 29, Feb. 6, 8 and 9, olive: Hip-Hop Dance Theater and Koresh Dance Company-- a high stylin' match-up presenting progressive urban dance theater plus Koresh's sexy expressive troupe performing a new piece by Donald Byrd.

Garth Fagan Dance

Jan. 31-Feb. 2, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999. Architectural post-modern works permeated by precise technique choreographed by the same guy who put the moves on Broadway's The Lion King.

Leni-Basso and Baneto

Feb. 8-9, Conwell Dance Theater, Temple University, Broad St. and Montgomery Ave., 215-204-1122. Dance is but one aspect of this entrancing evening of performance by a pair of Japanese multimedia theater ensembles that pique the senses via striking use of computer graphics, video, lighting and sonic effects.

Jeanne Ruddy Dance

Feb. 12-15, Wilma Theater. Talk about heritage -- Ruddy was a member of companies led by Martha Graham and Agnes de Mille. Now she's gaining a foothold on our scene orchestrating concerts of contemporary dance that aim for high emotional impact.

Faculty Dance Concert

Feb. 14-15, Conwell Dance Theater. The folks who whip aspiring dancers into shape show off fruits of their own labors. Charles Anderson, Eva Gholson, Luke Kahlich, Merián Soto and Ann Vachon are among the faculty featured in this long but varied program.

"Reverie"

BodyVox, Feb. 25, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900. Former members of Pilobolus, MOMIX and ISO stage their personal brand of imaginative choreography highlighted by inventive use of props and witty movement tableaus.

"Caravane"

Urban Tap, Feb. 28-March 2, Kimmel Center. Melding jazz, Afro-Brazilian and hip-hop gestures, this multi-culti mélange features showman extraordinaire Tamango and company plus live musicians in a funky, loose-limbed freestyle jam session. A best bet.

Tere O¹Connor

March 13-15, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914. The veteran post-modern chorographer presents two new works, which, as usual for O'Connor, are both poetic and playful.

"Rambleshoe"

Rhythm in Shoes with The Red Clay Ramblers, March 25, Annenberg Center. Betcha can't sit still at this rollicking collaboration that celebrates good, old-time rural American cultural heritage.

"Evidence"

Ronald K. Brown, March 28-30, Kimmel Center. For Brown, every dance tells a story. Some are more oblique than others, but all concern social issues and many contain a strong spiritual perspective.

"Repertory"

Rennie Harris PureMovement, May 7-9, South Jersey Performing Arts Center, One Harbor Blvd., Camden, N.J., 856-342-6633. Fusing a global array of ceremonial and cultural dance forms, Harris embarks on a metaphorical exploration of the roots of hip-hop.

Nederlands Dans Theater II

May 8-10, Annenberg Center. Dance Celebration closes its 20th season with a bang when the experimental training company of Europe's celebrated NDT makes its Philadelphia debut.

Group Motion Dance Company

May 9-10 and 15-18, Artsbank, Broad and South sts., 215-387-9895. GM's season finale offers a world premiere of their collaboration with Japan's Dance Theater 21.

Rebecca Sloan

May 17-18, Community Education Center, 3500 Lancaster Ave., 215-387-1911. The sinewy, sultry Sloan, one-third of the Bald Mermaids, does a solo choreographic turn with her full-length work "The 3 Evils."

The Firebird

Pennsylvania Ballet, June 6-14, Academy of Music, Broad and Locust sts., 215-551-7000. A feast for the eyes and ears, this new production of the classic folktale set to that superb Stravinsky score features extravagant sets and costumes.

They call it "spring," but they serve it up a couple of weeks after the new year. However you slice it, the first piece of the 2003 pie is going to be a tasty one. Whet your appetite on these:

ART

John McDaniel: "Between Line and Color"

Through Jan. 31, Sande Webster Gallery, 2018 Locust St., 215-732-8850. Landscape symbols inform McDaniel's paintings, in which gestural brushwork sparks energetically against terrains of color.

"In From the Cold: David McShane Paints Temple Gallery"

Through March 8, Temple Gallery, 45 N. Second St., 215-925-7379. McShane takes a mural from cradle to grave on the walls of Temple's main gallery. A complementary exhibition of his easel paintings hangs upstairs in February. Starting at 7:30 p.m. on March 7 (First Friday), the artist will extinguish his mural.

David Stephens: "144 Crosses for the 144,000" and "Drawing on Landscape": Samantha Simpson, Jennifer Macdonald, Ati Maier, and Tom Burckordt

Feb. 1-March 8, Gallery Joe, 302 Arch St., 215-592-7752. Gallery Joe plans to partially recreate David Stephens' studio in its "vault" area. Stephens, who has been slowly losing his vision, is now making obsessive and mystical polychrome carved wood sculptures in which crosses are embedded. Flamboyant imaginary landscapes executed by three individual artists on paper in surprising materials will be shown concurrently in the front gallery area.

"Layers of Meaning: Collage and Abstraction in the Late 20th Century -- Work by African-American Artists from the Pennsylvania Academy and Private Collections"

Feb. 8-April 20, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118 N. Broad St., 215-972-7600. The enduring influence of cubism is evident in this historical survey which includes important works by Moe Brooker, Sam Gilliam, Nanette Carter and James Brantly, Romare Bearden and Humbert Howard.

"Veruschka: Ex-model Found in Wall"

Feb. 11-March 16, Arcadia Art Gallery, 450 S. Easton Rd., Glenside, 215-572-2131 and March 10-31, Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design, 20th St. and the Parkway, 215-965-4027. Fashion's fashionable invasion of the art gallery takes a trompe l'oeil turn in the art of '60s model Veruschka's body painting collaborations with Holger Trülzsch from the 1970s and '80s, documented at Arcadia. More recent gritty urban videos and photographs will be at Moore College.

"Degas and the Dance"

Feb. 12-May 11, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Parkway, 215-763-8100. Everyone knows Degas was obsessed with dancers. What's lost in the pastel fluff of toe shoes and tutus framed on girlish bedroom walls is this most observant artist's rigor and psychological subtlety.

Candy Depew: "Climbing Mountains"

March 7-30, Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St., 215-925-3453. Not just clay! Depew plans three installations, orchestrating elements of cosmopolitan decorative conventions in several materials. Likely to be luscious and sublimely ludicrous.

Stuart Netsky

March 7-April 19, Locks Gallery, 600 Washington Sq. South, 215-629-1000. He's cast vitamins and knitted vacuum cleaner cozies. For his first show at Locks, Netsky is pouring large enamel abstractions. "I set out to make beautiful paintings. I think it's some of the best work I've done in a couple of years," he says.

"Cabinets of Curiosities"

May 2-July 26, Wood Turning Center, 501 Vine St., 215-923-8000. Cabinets of curiosities (wunderkammer) originally housed eclectic private collections. Based on this theme, 15 unique collaborative and interactive works by 29 artists will be shown together at the WTC and, later, individually at the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Free Library, the Philadelphia Flower Show and other venues. One "cabinet" houses work by 20 artists. Another displays a different object each time the door is opened.

Polly Apfelbaum

May 3-July 27, Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th St., 215-898-5911. In a major survey of the last decade of her work, the ICA will devote two large galleries to Polly Apfelbaum's installation/paintings in vivid, saturated colors, all related to mass culture.

OPERA

Verdi: La Traviata

Jan. 24-Feb. 8, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Academy of Music, Broad and Locust sts., 215-732-8400. OCP's production of this old chestnut will feature the splendid American soprano Maureen O'Flynn in the title role, with the dynamic young Italian conductor Corrado Rovaris in the pit.

An Evening with Verdi

Jan. 28-29, Academy of Vocal Arts, Helen Corning Warden Theater, 1920 Spruce St., 215-735-1685. These evenings of highlights, especially with a prolific genius like Verdi, are a bit like eating just the icing off of a cake. A sinful indulgence, perhaps, but oh, so sweet. The current crop of AVA students are singing magnificently, which will only add to the treat.

Mozart: The Magic Flute

Feb. 15-22, Academy of Vocal Arts, Helen Corning Warden Theater; Feb. 25 and 27, Centennial Hall, 450 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, 215-893-7902. This perennial favorite lacks the depth of Mozart's collaborations with librettist da Ponte, but it is hard to resist the broadly drawn characters and brilliant writing. A great beginner opera, especially for mature children.

Mozart: Così Fan Tutte

March 7-23, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Academy of Music. The plot is superficially farcical, but Mozart's genius at musical characterization is sublime, and the score is fitted together with the elegance of a Greek temple. Così is a timeless reflection on the human condition.

Verdi: Macbeth

March 14-30, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Academy of Music. Verdi drew great inspiration from Shakespeare. His extraordinary body of opera would conclude with two miraculous interpretations of the bard, Otello and Falstaff. Macbeth is a more youthful essay, full of the fire and pathos of the play, not without dramatic subtlety, but especially exciting for the stirring vigor of the grandiose score. Philly favorites Gregg Baker, baritone, and Lauren Flanigan, soprano, will lead the cast.

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos

April 4-19, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Academy of Music. This gem of an opera is a world apart from the sensationalistic Strauss of Salome and Elektra, although OCP's sensual Salome, Jayne Casselman, returns in the title role. Based on Greek mythology, Strauss fashioned a play within a play in his most elegant style.

Ravel: L¹Heure Espagnole/Poulenc: Les Mamelles de Tirésias

April 11-12, Curtis Opera Theater, Centennial Hall. These two concise works represent a lighter, more playful side of French opera. Both composers flirt with silliness in their subject matter, but with a dramatic sophistication and ingenious scoring that makes the rarity of these operas seem curious.

Stravinsky: Marva/Hindemith: Hin und Zurück/Puccini: Gianni Schicchi

April 25-27, Temple University Opera Theater, Tomlinson Theater, 13th and Norris sts., 215-204-1122. Three one-acters from the first half of the 20th century. Temple Opera, as much as any troupe in town, has shown remarkable imagination in programming, in reviving obscure works that are well worth hearing and in full-blown, well rounded productions. There is no reason to expect anything less for this outing.

Gounod: Faust

April 26-May 4, Academy of Vocal Arts, Helen Corning Warden Theater; May 6-8, Centennial Hall. The famous tale of Faust's deal with the devil inspired many writers and composers, including at least three operatic interpretations. Gounod's version remains one of the most popular operas in the repertoire, trumping very fine works by Berlioz and Boito.

Stravinsky: Les Noces/Puccini: Gianni Schicchi

May 3, Curtis Opera Theater, Centennial Hall. Stravinsky's early masterpiece is not actually an opera, but a stage work, "four choreographic scenes," written for the striking combination of vocal soloists, chorus, four pianos and percussion. This delightful work will be performed from the concert stage, as will the season's second offering of the Puccini one-acter.

MUSIC

Brad Mehldau

Jan. 18, Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900. Although best recognized for the rare cohesion of his excellent trio, Mehldau is no less compelling as a solo pianist. What to expect? A blend of slippery original songs, a Radiohead cover or two, and if we're lucky, a nod to Brahms.
Nate Chinen

Laurie Lewis

Jan. 19, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0770. A gifted singer and songwriter, Lewis has a particularly tender touch on the fiddle. The most blazing bluegrass tunes seem to float from her fingers.
Mary Armstrong

Camper Van Beethoven

Jan. 24, TLA, 334 South St., 215-336-2000. Before he turned up the volume with the slick, riff-laden Cracker, David Lowery used to write those opium epics in the company of mandolins, violins and Cali-punk slackers. Camper Van Beethoven remains the most underappreciated band of the late '80s but maybe they're reuniting right on time here in the double-ohs.
Patrick Rapa

Topaz

Jan. 25, North by Northwest, 7165 Germantown Ave., 215-248-1000. Part jazz, part soul-trance and a little bit rock, New York's Topaz plays sax and keys in cowboy hats.
P.R.

Intercultural Journeys

Jan. 26, Mishkan Shalom, 4101 Freeland Ave., 215-508-0226. Egyptian love songs and Ladino vocal music -- among other genres from both sides of the Middle Eastern faith chasm -- are accompanied by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra's string section as well as traditional Lebanese drummer extraordinaire Joseph Tayoun.
M.A.

Chucho Valdes¹ Jazz en Clave/Charlie Haden¹s Nocturne

Jan. 29, Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999. Latin-jazz aficionados need not be persuaded to flock to this show. Valdes, modern-day Cuba's answer to Art Tatum, leads his dazzling working band; their recent stand at the Village Vanguard was a rhythmic explosion. On a quieter note, bassist Charlie Haden fronts his painterly Nocturne ensemble, featuring trumpeter Roy Hargrove, saxophonist David Sanchez and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba.
N.C.

Joe Strummer/Clash Tribute

Jan. 30, The Balcony, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE. Local punk and rock mainstays Cranked Up!, The Boils, Famous in Vegas, The Low Budgets and The Graveyard School pay homage to the British punk legends and their recently departed frontman.
P.R.

Eileen Ivers

Feb. 1, Media Theater, State and Monroe sts., Media, 610-566-4020. A Celtic fiddler with a world of music in her compositions, Ivers has won every Irish fiddling distinction imaginable and been the principal player with Riverdance. But she's a New Yorker and can't resist trying on the swirl of rhythms and instruments that are her birthright. An Ivers show rocks, without ever estranging traditional music lovers.
M.A.

Jimmy Scott

Feb. 1-2, Tin Angel. Having graduated from novelty and nostalgia into living-legend status, singer Jimmy Scott (he's lost the diminutive "Little") stands as perhaps the last of the true torch singers. His otherworldly near-mezzo, with its quivering vibrato, illuminates even the simplest of cafe standards with melodrama and splendor.
N.C.

Relâche

Feb. 1-2, Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1700 Montgomery Ave., 215-569-9700. Relâche has performed in a number of unusual venues over the years, but perhaps none so striking as the lecture hall of this vaunted space. A new work by Fred Frith will be played, as well as other music mixing acoustical and electronic sounds.
Peter Burwasser

Bach Festival of Philadelphia

Anner Bylsma, cello, Feb. 7, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Parkway, 215-247-2224. The great Dutch cellist will play the complete music for solo cello by Bach. This is the holy grail of the cello literature. Bylsma plays a baroque cello as beautifully as anyone else in the world.
P.B.

Apples in Stereo

Feb. 8, TLA. With October's Velocity of Sound, Robert Schneider -- the Deuce Bigelow of the Elephant 6 sound -- has toned down the psychedelic noisemakers to embrace something more like honest-to-goodness rock 'n' roll. After opening for Clinic, the kids come back to headline.
P.R.

Ken Anderson

Feb. 8, Calvary Church, 48th and Baltimore sts., 215-724-1702. Cherry Tree is a music cooperative, meaning people put on shows for the good of the public, not their own purses. They go so far as to do community outreach, helping other community groups put on concerts that might not happen without their assistance. The Crossroads Music Series at Calvary Church is one of those good deeds. Close your eyes when Ken Anderson sings and it seems Paul Robeson lives.
M.A.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, conductor, Feb. 10, Verizon Hall. Maestro Skrowaczewski, one of the world's most distinguished conductors, has been a frequent visitor to this town. For this appearance with the remarkable student orchestra of the Curtis Institute, he will also display his compositional skills, with a new concerto for piano, left hand, to be played by Curtis boss Gary Graffman.
P.B.

Fred Eaglesmith Band

Feb. 14, Tin Angel. A songwriter with a gift for storytelling, Fred Eaglesmith always puts on a lively show.
M.A.

Nada Surf

Feb. 20, The North Star, 27th and Poplar sts., 215-684-0808. Last year's Let Go barely made a ripple, but these Weezerish deadpan dorks shouldn't be counted out. The show's all ages, for the kids for whom "Popular" is still relevant.
P.R.

Kathleen Edwards

Feb. 20 and 27, The Point, 880 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-521-0988. Surrounded by drunks and assholes, apparently, Canadian singer-songwriter Edwards delivers sad cowgirl songs in a resilient, soothing voice.
P.R.

Philadelphia Orchestra

Christoph Eschenbach, conductor, Feb. 20-March 8, Verizon Hall. The incoming music director is including new music in every one of his concerts in this late winter stint. There will be new music by Rihm, Knussen, and Dalbavie. Signs of things to come, we hope. There will also be more traditional fare, including the Sibelius Violin Concerto played by Midori.
P.B.

Mission of Burma

Feb. 22, TLA. Reunited and reinvigorated, Clint Conley, Peter Prescott and Roger Miller have been playing that old-school, artsy Boston punk again. Word is, the set lists are huge and boys are loud as ever.
P.R.

Settlement Contemporary Players

Robert Capanna, conductor, Feb. 23, Settlement Music School, 416 Queen St., 215-320-2686. The superb SCP ensemble plays works from the 1960s that helped turn the new music scene back towards tonality. The music of George Crumb and Gyorgy Ligeti still sounds fresh and daring today.
P.B.

Eric Schwartz

Feb. 23, Cherry Tree Music Co-op, St. Mary's Parish Hall, 3916 Locust Walk, 215-386-1640. Schwartz has been known to toss in a credible version of a Juan Luis Guerra song, proving he has crooner potential (and seeing if people are paying enough attention to notice that he has switched to Spanish). The smooth voice can lull you into a big surprise with some of his punchy songs, like "Who Da Bitch Now?" -- complete with a verse for our own Ira Einhorn. Schwartz is a clever songwriter and a talented musician; look for him to grow immensely popular. He will share the bill with his musical friends, Full Frontal Folk, for an evening that promises much fine music with zero BS tolerance.
M.A.

Philomel

Feb. 28, Church of St. Martin, 8000 St. Martin's Lane, Chestnut Hill; March 2, Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Sq., 215-893-1999. This is the first of two programs from Philomel this season for which the baroque orchestra will include large works by Handel (the second one is in early May). For this program, string concertos by Handel, Stanley, Geminiani and Vivaldi will be heard.
P.B.

Minas

March 1, Sedgwick Cultural Center, 7137 Germantown Ave., 215-248-9229. Carnival is always good news: six weeks 'til the spring equinox, longer days than nights and the festivals that come with it. Minas, our resident Brazilians, are the foremost purveyors of the Carnival tradition, which they'll celebrate with music and the obligatory samba dancing.
M.A.

Marsalis Family

March 2, Verizon Hall. Jazz's first family has performed together less often than you might think. But as a tribute to patriarch-pianist Ellis, the boys have rallied to release Jazz Celebration (on Branford's new Marsalis Music label). The results are warm and spirited, if less than spectacular. No question that they'll produce more sparks in person.
N.C.

Toad the Wet Sprocket

March 2, TLA. Disbanded in 1998, these VH1 folk-poppers are back to see if they're still the alternative to anything.
P.R.

Sonny Rollins

March 7, Verizon Hall. He comes every year, and every year his appearance qualifies as a genuine event. Rollins, the quintessential improviser, never fails to deliver at least a few moments of transcendent lyricism -- enough to keep us coming back, again and again.
N.C.

Emerson String Quartet

March 7, Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-569-8080. An all-Haydn program from one of the most celebrated string quartets of our time. Music that still sounds modern, two centuries later.
P.B.

Danielle Howle

March 12, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888. How long has it been? Seems like forever since this deviously grinning, sassafrasian-voiced, Southern singer-songwriter came to visit. Meantime she's had sweet summertime stints opening for the Indigo Girls and Jorma Kaukonen, and her free-spirited strumming has been showing up in indie films. But when can we finally see that Danielle Howle documentary? It's been in the works for three years.
P.R.

Mates of State/Rainer Maria

March 14, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 215-563-3980. Fans of boys and girls screaming together will freak the hell out for this (not-yet-confirmed) show. The two smartasses of Mates of State yell because they're happily competing with each other for your attention. Smartypants trio Rainer Maria is probably yelling because the music is so darn loud.
P.R.

Jacky Terrasson and Stefon Harris

March 15, Perelman Theater. Their collaborative album Kindred (Blue Note) showed the deep rapport between these two turks; it stands as a high-water mark in both artists' catalogs. When Terrasson and Harris convene, on piano and vibraphone respectively, be prepared for intertwining lines, flashy counterpoint and rhythmic caprice.
N.C.

Natalie MacMaster

March 15, Zellerbach Theatre. No matter what the tradition, fiddle is the instrument that seems connected directly to the feet. There's no better living example than Natalie MacMaster, famed for step dancing while fiddling tunes typical of her Cape Breton tradition. While she has a full repertoire of the old tunes, she also loves to combine those styles with ideas from all corners of the world.
M.A.

Prism Saxophone Quartet

March 16, Settlement Music School. A program of the spunky sounds of William Albright, with solo guest appearances by pianist Marilyn Nonken and bass clarinetist Michael Lowenstern, new music practitioners extraordinaire.
P.B.

Kirov Orchestra

Valery Gergiev, conductor, March 21, Verizon Hall. This is one of the hottest orchestras in Russia. Expect colorful fireworks in the gorgeous complete ballet of Stravinsky's "The Firebird." Also music by Scriabin and Berlioz.
P.B.

Ben Allison

March 22, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914. He's a first-call bassist and co-founder of the Jazz Composers Collective, and his working ensemble -- with Mamadou Diabate on kora, Michael Blake on saxophone, Frank Kimbrough on piano and Michael Sarin on drums -- may be the grooviest avant-world-chamber ensemble on the scene. Don't be fooled by the cool erudition of Peace Pipe (Palmetto); this is a band with teeth.

Tim Berne Quartet

March 22, Tritone, 1508 South St., 215-545-0475. With Science Friction (Screwgun), Berne delivered last year's most insistently inventive jazz album, crackling with high-voltage improvisation and sharp-cornered tunes. In concert, his band -- keyboardist Craig Taborn, guitarist Marc Ducret and drummer Tom Rainey -- stretches the borders of Berne's songs, without losing either density or momentum.

Birds of a Feather

March 23, Verizon Hall. As one of the few remaining compatriots of Charlie Parker, drummer Roy Haynes knows a thing or two about bebop. More remarkably, he infuses this tribute project with a contemporary spin (aided by trumpeter Nicholas Payton and saxophonist Kenny Garrett). Also on the bill are the Heath Brothers, Philly's bop fraternity nonpareil.

Michael Brecker Quartet

March 28, Zellerbach Theatre. The most influential saxophonist of his generation has been in the co-pilot's seat of late, playing Trane (and Wayne) in Herbie Hancock's hard-driving Directions in Music band. As a leader, Brecker favors feverish blowouts as well as burnished ballads, and he has a tender side to balance out the heavy technique.

Broadside Electric

March 29, Sedgwick Cultural Center. "Tuning into the Exodus" is an ambitious concept, bringing four different musical traditions together to compare takes on this Bible story. Broadside Electric offers modern folk, Fred's Mobile Homes does bluegrass, the Fabulous Spielkehs (formerly KlezMs) delivers the Jewish side and Spiral Song will weave the evening together with women's voices a capella.

Sex Mob

April 5, Painted Bride Art Center. Steven Bernstein's peripatetic quartet has been known to find inspiration in the strangest of habitats (their last Ropeadope album, Sex Mob Does Bond, is standard fare). What's impressive is the way the band puts its stamp on such far-flung material. Eclecticism has rarely been this personal, or fun.

International Stefan Wolpe Centennial

April 7-8, Rock Hall, Temple University, Broad St. and Cecil B. Moore Ave., 215-204-8307. Temple's music department plays host to concerts celebrating a modernist musical hero, who has an important local connection as a one-time teacher at Settlement. A concert of "Entartete Musik," music that was banned by the Nazis, will feature works by Wolpe as well as his contemporaries, Schoenberg, Hindemith, Pleshkow and Mamlock.

Brentano String Quartet

April 11, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 13th and Cherry sts., 215-569-8080. This exciting young ensemble will play selections from Bach's "Art of the Fugue," as well as a sampler of new music by 10 composers.

Dar Williams

April 15, Keswick Theatre, Easton Rd. and Keswick Ave., Glenside, 215-572-7650. Always a little hipper than she lets on (how many 'XPN regulars have had a song on Alias?), Williams knows when to pick your brain with insightful lyrics and when to strum on your heartstrings. Finally following up 2000's spellbinding The Green World, she's giving us The Beauty of the Rain (Razor & Tie) in mid-February.

Joshua Redman

April 19, Zellerbach Theatre. Elastic (Warner Bros.) found the saxophonist in soul mode with organist Sam Yahel and drummer Brian Blade. The album never quite finds its groove -- but there's a fighting chance that the band will have no such problems here.

Beat This!

April 26, Painted Bride Art Center. Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey are nominally Latin but reach 'round the world and into the audience for rhythm. Consider attending Baptista's afternoon workshop prior to the evening concert to enjoy the full effect.

Maurizio Pollini

May 1, Verizon Hall. The legendary Italian pianist, incredibly, in his first solo appearance in Philadelphia. Without a doubt, the piano solo event of the year.

Anton Kuerti

May 4, Independence Seaport Museum, Columbus Blvd. and Walnut St., 215-569-8080. This highly individualistic pianist will perform the last five Piano Sonatas of Beethoven, one of the grand summits of the solo piano repertoire. Kuerti's recital concludes the Music in the Museums program of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.