IBT Season: From Cajun to Quintets

Cajun accordionist Steve Riley and his Mamou Playboys, Ravi Shankar and a theatrical tribute to Patsy Cline are some highlights of the Irvine Barclay Theatre’s eclectic seventh season of music, drama, dance and family events, which starts Oct. 13. Singer-songwriter Don McLean (“American Pie,” “Vincent”) will kick things off.

Pop-folk-jazz offerings will also include the George Shearing Quintet (Oct. 26); the Bobs, an a cappella quartet (Nov. 29.); Doc Severinsen and his big band (Feb. 8), and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band of New Orleans (July 12).

Shankar (Oct. 25) and Riley (Jan. 25) share the IBT’s world music and dance menu with South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo (March 15) and the La Tania Flamenco Ensemble (May 10). All four programs are being co-sponsored by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.

On its own, the Philharmonic Society will present the Kronos Quartet (Jan. 22), Philip Glass in a solo piano recital (March 10) and “The Cave,” an opera by Steve Reich with video imagery by Beryl Korot (May 15-18).

Chamber music concerts, co-presented by the Laguna Chamber Music Society and the Philharmonic Society, will include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Jan. 9) and the London Chamber Orchestra (Jan. 23).

“Always . . . Patsy Cline” (Dec. 6) will be performed by the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Other theatrical events will include return visits by Hal Holbrook in “Mark Twain Tonight” (Nov. 1) and monologuist Spalding Gray (April 11, 12).

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For the family: Warren Miller’s “Snowriders” (Dec. 7, 8), a film about various snow sports; “The Hobbit” (Jan. 24), a puppet show by Montreal’s Theatre Sans Fils; and “The Not So Great Escape” (Feb. 1), an allegory being presented by the Opera Pacific Overture Company about seeking relief from demanding parents through drugs.

Fans of contemporary dance will get their first chance to see the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s “Still/Here” in Orange County (Oct. 14 and 15, with a free lecture and Q&A; on Oct. 14 featuring Jones). Also lined up: the Parsons Dance Company (Jan. 21), the Joe Goode Performance Group (March 13) and Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal (May 7).

Ballet Pacifica will present its annual “Nutcracker” Dec. 13-24.

Single tickets ($18-$35) and season subscriptions are available through the IBT box office, (714) 854-4646, or Ticketmaster, (714) 740-2000.