For Richard Taruskin, no cow is sacred, the conventional rarely contains wisdom, and classical-music pieties are just so many pinatas to be gleefully beaten open (there’s usually something more interesting inside). As a steady contributor to The New York Times and The New Republic and an intimidatingly prolific author (the 3,856-page Oxford History of Western Music is the cornerstone of his output), the UC Berkeley music professor is the nearest thing we have to a public intellectual (only The New Yorker’s Alex Ross matches him in reach and impact). Expert in Russian music, he’s being brought by the Seattle Symphony to give the keynote address (Saturday, 2 p.m.) at this weekend’s symposium “Creative Diaspora: Emigre Composers From the Former USSR.” (See the full lineup at blog.seattlesymphony.org.) Surrounding the conference, the SSO plays three Russian works, including a year-old piano concerto by Alexander Raskatov entitled “Night Butterflies”—a piece as skittish and mercurial as the title suggests; like Messiaen’s birdsong music, but even more brilliantly, icily glittering. Ludovic Morlot conducts its U.S. premiere, with soloist Tomoko Mukaiyama. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., 215-4747, seattlesymphony.org. $19–$122. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 20, 8 p.m. Sat., March 22, 2 p.m. Sun., March 23.