Welcome to October! This month is jam-packed with classical music events in the Seattle area, enough to have our critics scrambling from concert to concert every week. There’s plenty for everyone to enjoy, from early music to new music. Here are a few of our top picks for the month ahead, though this only scratches the surface of this month’s cornucopia of offerings.

Oct. 4, 6 -7 — Seattle Symphony Principal Cellist Efe Baltacıgil celebrates the start of his second season in Seattle with a performance as featured soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. Also on the program is Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountainand Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1.

Oct. 4 – 6  — Modern dance masters from the Paul Taylor Dance Company will be joined by the Seattle Modern Orchestra for three performances of The Uncommitted, a dance piece featuring the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Also on the program are two other pieces choreographed by Taylor. The performance is part of the University of Washington’s World Dance Series and will be held at the UW’s Meany Hall.

Oct. 5 – 7 — Thanks to the Northwest Sinfonietta, American and Cuban orchestras will perform together in the U.S. for the first time since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The NW Sinfonietta will be joined by members of Cuba’s Orquesta de Cámara Concierto Sur for a three concert series. For this historic event, they’ll perform works by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona as well as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Oct. 13 – 27 — Seattle Opera presents Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera. This atmospheric work tells the tale of Lenore, a woman who disguises herself as a man to free her husband from a political prison.

Oct. 19 — Seattle Symphony kicks off its new “Untitled” concert series with “1962”, a program of works by 20th century masters Cage, Scelsi, Feldman, Xenakis, and Ligeti. The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) will join members of the Symphony for this late-night performance in the Benaroya Hall Grand Lobby. The action begins at 9:00 pm with a performance of Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables and the Orchestra.

Oct. 20 — Early music ensemble Pacific Musicworks performs Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at St. James Cathedral. This is a great opportunity to hear one of the composer’s most cherished works in one of Seattle’s most glorious sacred spaces.

Oct. 22 — The chamber music mavericks at Classical Revolution are back! This time, they’ll be taking over The Royal Room in Columbia City for their monthly chamber music jam. This month’s event centers around chamber music for the piano, taking full advantage of The Royal Room’s Steinway B instrument.

Oct. 25 — Legendary composer Philip Glass returns to Kirkland Performance Center for an evening of music with Foday Musa Suso, a master of the African Kora.

Oct. 27 — Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra kicks off the 2012-13 season with a performance of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. Violinist Denise Dillenbeck joins the orchestra for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Also on the program are works by Tchaikovsky and Massenet.

Oct. 30 — La Catrina Quartet brings their signature blend of Latin American and standard repertoire to the University of Washington’s Meany Hall. They’ll perform works by Haydn, Revueltas, Ponce, Frank, and Dvorák.