While the stringed serenity of classical music is often overlooked in a city where jazz was born and music clubs funk 'til dawn, CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS pack plenty of star-power and superb musicianship this week. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, the next installment of Loyola University's Montage Series at the campus' Nunemaker Auditorium offers guitarist William Yelverton, whose classical bent is marked by jazz, folk, Latin and flamenco influences. Guitar Review magazine heralded his debut CD, Harpsichord Music on Guitar, as "first-rate." Much of the award-winning Yelverton's acclaim comes from his unique performances and recordings of works by great composers spanning the centuries-long tradition of classical music. Admission to Yelverton's concert is free; call 865-3492 or visit www.music.loyno.edu/montage for more info. The Ahn Trio (pictured) returns to town for a concert at NOCCA/Riverfront's Lupin Hall (2800 Chartres St.) at 8 p.m. Saturday. The three Korean-born sisters are graduates of The Juilliard School. Their performances are known for a clever mixing of old and new, with Haydn and other classical greats appearing in their programs next to rockers like the Doors' "Riders on the Storm." Tickets are $20; for tickets or more info, call 940-2900 or visit www.nocca.com. At 7 p.m. Sunday, a joint recital of Israeli violoncellist Inbal Megiddo and Palestinian pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar will be held at Tulane's Dixon Recital Hall. The concert is sponsored by the Ferber Family of Houma Foundation, the Jewish Endowment Foundation and the Office of Cultural Affairs for the Consulate General of Israel in New York City. Cellist Megiddo, 26, is already considered a veteran on the classical circuit, having already played with the world's leading ensembles, including recent performances stateside at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Ashkar, also 26, made his Carnegie Hall debut four years ago and now lives in Berlin and performs regularly with the Berlin Staatsoper. Together, the duo will perform works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Bach, De Falla and David Popper. Admission is free; call 865-5267 for more info. Finally, at 8 p.m. Monday (Jan. 20), the New Orleans Friends of Music present the Pacifica Quartet in concert with pianist Ursula Oppens. The string quartet has, since 1994, developed a reputation for unique and lively interpretations, with Oppens, well-traveled throughout Europe and America as a soloist with leading symphonies, adding piano. A pre-performance lecture begins at 7 p.m. Both the lecture and concert will take place in Tulane's Dixon Hall. Tickets are $18. -- Frank Etheridge

Beckett on Film: Waiting for Godot (Program I) 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, Jan. 15-17; Jan. 21-23, Jan. 24-26, Jan. 27-29, Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 2; Feb. 3-5 Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 525-2767 If there's one who wouldn't get excited over Zeitgeist's six-part, 19-film retrospective of playwright Samuel Beckett's work, it would be Beckett himself. The man was a paragon of loneliness and isolation; one can't imagine him getting enough energy to crawl out of bed to experience this amazingly comprehensive presentation of his output. (It's a moot point, of course; Beckett died in 1989.) So we'll trudge onward without the man, content to watch these cinematic versions of his stage plays: Waiting for Godot (Wednesday-Friday), Not I (Jan. 21-23), Happy Days (Jan. 24-26), Endgame (Jan. 27-29), What Where (Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 2) and Act Without Words II (Feb. 3-5). The Beckett on Film series has toured the film-festival circuit to critical acclaim, making stops in Toronto (Zeitgeist guru Rene Broussard's annual pilgrimage), New York and Venice. Tickets $6 general admission, $5 students and seniors, $4 Zeitgeist members. -- David Lee Simmons

Tipitina's 25th Anniversary Series Wednesday-Sunday, Jan. 15-19; Jan. 21-25 Tipitina's, 501 Napoleon Ave., 895-8477 To celebrate 25 years of great music at venerable Uptown institution Tipitina's, the club is hosting a two-week-long bash that features some big names and inspired pairings. The first week kicks off Thursday with "Horns & Hatchets," as the Dirty Dozen and Lil' Rascals brass bands share the stage with the Wild Magnolias and Big Chief Peppy & The Golden Eagles. Friday is the Founders Ball, honoring the 14 original founding members of Tipitina's; musical headliners include Cyril Neville, Ivan Neville, George Porter Jr., Stanton Moore and June Yamagishi. Saturday is a double blast of supreme New Orleans funk with Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen opening for the Funky Meters. And on Sunday, Bruce Daigrepont's long-running weekly 5 p.m. fais do do welcomes special guests Steve Riley and David Doucet for a masterful night of Cajun music. Thursday tickets $12, Friday tickets $20, Saturday $25, Sunday $5. -- Scott Jordan

Suplecs 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 The Howlin' Wolf, 828 S. Peters St., 522-WOLF Paying homage to metal's oft-overlooked blues roots, Suplecs sounds just like a heavy metal band should if it's spawned in the midst of New Orleans swelter. The local power trio's slow, sludgey sound features parallel guitar-and-bass riffs that amble along under dual vocals of Durel Yates and Danny Nicks. This fall saw Suplecs touring Texas and the Southwest. The band also landed a slot on the recently released Smallstone Records compilation Sucking the ¹70s, a collection of current rock bands doing covers by their favorite stoner-rock forefathers. Suplecs contributed a brain-fried version of Rush's "Working Man." The band also put out its second full-length album in 2002, Sad Songs Š Better Days. A follow-up to 2000's Wrestlin¹ With My Lady Friend, the album features the cocaine dirge "White Devil." "The white devil," goes the chorus, "he took my friends away." Dead Boy and the Elephantmen open. Admission $7. -- Cristina Diettinger

Carey Bell, Johnny Sansone 10:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 Maple Leaf, 8316 Oak St., 866-9359 The blues triumvirate of harmonica master Carey Bell, veteran guitarist Bob Margolin and octogenarian piano legend Pinetop Perkins all have established and artistically satisfying solo careers, but they're equally defined by their respective tenures with the King of the Blues, Muddy Waters. Bell, Margolin, and Perkins all logged time with Waters, both learning from the master and bringing their own styles and sound to the mix. Perkins is a bona fide blues survivor, still rolling out left-handed boogie-woogie runs and deep, slow blues on the piano, Margolin carries the torch of Waters' quivering, deliberate slide guitar style, and Bell can make a harp roar like a freight train, cry like a bird, or sound deeply with church-organ tones. Bell rolls into town Friday night (listen for fireworks if opener Johnny Sansone and Bell engage in a harp duel), while Margolin and Perkins complete the blues double-header Saturday night. Admissions TBA. -- Jordan

Cabaret 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18; 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19 Jefferson Performing Arts Center, 400 Phlox Ave., Metairie, 885-2000 When Sam Mendes revamped and updated Cabaret for the stage a few years ago, 1930s Berlin became a whole lot more decadent. You could almost see the needle marks from your seat. So it will be interesting to see how the Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS) handles this work, which is brilliant regardless which version is offered. Rarely has a musical been so contemporary, so cutting at its look at bohemia -- and here, in the shadow of the impending doom of fascism. John Kander's music and Fred Ebb's lyrics keep up with the edge of Joe Masteroff's book. Speaking of rarities, New Orleans theater mainstay Cynthia Owen makes her JPAS debut as the iconic Sally Bowles, the ex-pat American who keeps singing and dancing so she won't cry. Dan Garvey is her confused love interest, American writer Clifford Bradshaw. The supporting cast includes Janet Shea, Walter Bost and William McCrary (the show's director). Dennis Assaf conducts. Tickets $23 balcony, $24 orchestra; $1 off for seniors, $2 off for JPAS members. -- Simmons

An Evening with Todd Rundgren 9 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE Legendary singer/songwriter/producer Todd Rundgren is possessed with two distinct musical personalities: one creates and sings perfect pop songs ("Hello It's Me"), and the other is a boundary-pushing innovator who championed emerging technology long before his peers got on the bandwagon. Actually, make it three: Rundgren's band Utopia made some smart rock 'n' roll in the '70s. Rundgren's no longer a household name these days, but he's still highly respected as a musician's musician and innovative producer, and has also played on the Beatles tribute tour, A Walk Down Abbey Road, alongside peers such as late Who bassist John Entwistle, Cream's Jack Bruce, and Heart's Ann Wilson. For his solo performances, Rundgren's apt to play both piano and guitar, and maybe even pick up the saxophone. Tickets $20. -- Jordan

Baby-Boom Daydreams: The Art of Douglas Bourgeois Through Mar. 23 Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 528-3806 Featuring 65 works influenced by memories of growing up in the 1960s, Baby-Boom Daydreams is a 25-year retrospective of the art of Douglas Bourgeois, one of Louisiana's most remarkable artists. Early paintings, dating from 1975, are filled with dreamlike depictions of his favorite rock 'n' roll stars, including Elvis, Aretha Franklin and Martha & the Vandellas, filtered through the perspective of his native St. Amant, in Ascension Parish, where he still lives. Around 1980, he began painting the social content implicit in the music, reflecting a concern for problems such as urban crime, domestic abuse, racial tensions, and the endangered natural environment, all rendered in the rustic yet profoundly precise, pop renaissance imagery for which he is renowned. Additional Douglas Bourgeois masterworks can be seen at the Arthur Roger Gallery, 432 Julia St. (522-1999) through Jan. 25. Two shows not to miss. -- D. Eric Bookhardt