So here we are, on the brink of autumn again, standing on the precipice looking down into a season of decadent classical musical treats that happen to be playing live in our own backyard, more or less.

And though the idea is compelling, I’m not referring to the Sept. 27 performance of the Dark Star Orchestra that the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts is bringing to the Pantages Theatre.  While it would be great fun to see the ultimate in Grateful Dead tribute bands, especially in light of my 5-year-old’s recent declaration that their Greatest Hits album contains “the best music, ever,” I think my own autumnal tastes go more towards “La Traviata” than “Truckin’.”

And so, if it’s classical music I’m looking to enjoy, the Northwest Sinfonietta performs Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Rialto Theater. The concert pairs Music Director Christophe Chagnard’s dynamic musical stylings with the virtuosity of 23-year-old Seattle cello phenom Joshua Roman, who’s taken Seattle by storm by taking over as principal cellist for the Seattle Symphony.

Roman, whose influences include JS Bach, Slava Rostropovich, The Beatles, Radiohead, Jimi Hendrix, and Sergei Rachmaninoff (as a pianist, not composer) as well as Yo Yo Ma and Hilary Hahn, will play three concertos representing three centuries. 

Whoa.

A concerto is, to a classical musician soloist, what a marathon is to a seasoned runner. To do three at once is a feat; to span three centuries of style is kind of like changing shoes from Nikes to Keds midway through the third race.

But Roman’s the kind of performer who can pull off the Haydn Cello Concerto in D, followed by Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor, finalized with Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto in E flat; with the fabulously capable sinfonietta backing him, and Chagnard behind the baton, it’s guaranteed to be a hot night of classical music even if the weather outside is cold. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

[Rialto Theater, Saturday, Sept. 8, $25-$100, 310 S. Ninth St., Tacoma, 253.591.5894]