RoseLee Goldberg

In her 1979 Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present, performance art historian Goldberg literally wrote the book, connecting a disparate gaggle of uncategorizable artists into an unbroken line of development. Her subsequent work has performed similar miracles, underlining the relationships between the Dadaist manifestos and mechanical ballets of the beginnings of the 20th century through to the ongoing experimentation with theatrical conventions that have crossed our paths ever since. Goldberg speaks on Redefining Performance, including references to notable artists coming from the Northwest. On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St., 206-217-9888. $12. 7 p.m. Tues. March 8. SANDRA KURTZ

Ethel

If this string quartet’s packaging suggests they’re a little more self-aware of their own cutting-edge hipness than they need to be, their approach is genuinely fresh and innovative. The music on their eponymous CD reveals a taste for bluesy, swoopy pitch-bending, grungy timbre distortion, and visceral jazz/rock energy. (Don’t think “crossover”; Ethel’s aesthetic is as far from the cheese that term implies as they can get.) Joining Ethel for a Music Matters festival are guitarist/composer Mikel Rouse, performing his own blues-influenced Music for Minorities, and Grisha Coleman, transforming the OtB Studio Theater into a sound environment for interactive performance. On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St., 206-217-9888. $10-$18. Ethel: 8 p.m. Sat. March 5; 2 p.m. Sun. March 6. Rouse: 8 p.m. Fri. March 4 and Sun. March 6. Coleman: 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sat. March 5; 5 p.m. Sun. March 6. GAVIN BORCHERT