Bellevue Philharmonic

It would have been easy enough for cellist Matt Haimovitz, a child prodigy who began to concertize and record in his early teens, to stick with a safe path, playing his instrument’s standard repertory in conventional concert halls. But he traded that for a schlepping-boxes-of-CDs-in-the-van cross-country gigging life that not many classical musicians choose—among players of his caliber, none others I can think of. This lets Haimovitz play what he wants where he wants, and he’s become known for championing adventurous music, the newest of the new; performing in unusual venues (like the Tractor Tavern); and starting his own record label, Oxingale. This weekend, he’ll help the Bellevue Philharmonic open its season with...well, OK, his instrument’s standard repertory in conventional concert halls. But a musician of his brains, energy, incisiveness, and passion is worth hearing in anything. Fusao Kajima conducts Haimovitz in the Dvorak concerto, paired with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Meydenbauer Center, 11100 N.E. Sixth St., 425-455-4171, www.bellevuephil.org. 7:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 4, 2 p.m. Sun., Oct. 5. (The Philharmonic's Friday, Oct. 3 concert in Meany Hall has been cancelled.) GAVIN BORCHERT
Sat., Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 5, 2 p.m., 2008