While rapper Talib Kweli may be the most recognizable act to perform at Brandeis this fall, music organizers and performers are preparing for what promises to be a busy season for music makers and music lovers alike. The next several months feature a panoply of events, including the Lydian String Quartet's 25th anniversary, a World Music Series, the Brandeis Marquee Series, featuring Boston-area professional performers, and a vast array of student ensemble performances."I think this is the Department of Music's most ambitious and diverse season to date-spanning classical, world music, jazz, avant-garde, contemporary and new music," wrote Scott Edmiston, director of the office of the arts, in an e-mail to the Justice.

The Lydian String Quartet-comprised of music professors Daniel Stepner, Joshua Gordon, Mary Ruth Ray and Judy Eissenberg-will celebrate the ensemble's 25th anniversary with four concerts. This series is the conclusion of its five-year project "Vienna and the String Quartet," which explores two centuries of Viennese music, as well as the modernist response to this classical tradition. The first concert will be held Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Slosberg Recital Hall, and will feature works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Anton Webern and Franz Schubert.

As an added treat, the concert on Jan. 28 will be streamed live through the music department's website.

"We haven't much time to look back," said violinist Daniel Stepner, who joined the quartet in 1987. "We're very busy preparing our next concerts."

The MusicUnitesUS World Music Series, now in its third year, will feature two international ensembles in hopes of bringing a multicultural flavor to Brandeis' music program. Middle Eastern chamber group The Yuval Ron Ensemble, which brings together musicians from Israel, Lebanon, Armenia, France and the United States, will begin a weeklong mini-residency Oct. 19 with a series of discussions, workshops and small performances. The event concludes Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. with a concert in Slosberg Music Hall celebrating and uniting the traditions of Judaism, Sufism and Christianity in musical ways. A similar mini-residency in February will feature the talents of Sol y Canto, who exhibit the sounds of Afro, Latin and Caribbean styles through vocal harmonies and sensual music.

The Brandeis Marquee Series not only features Boston professional musicians, but also some familiar faces from Brandeis' music community, as well. Prof. Robert Nieske's (MUS) Big Wolf Band, a 10-piece "little big band," will kick off the series Oct. 7 with a concert in Slosberg featuring a number of jazz standards and new compositions.

Violinist Daniel Stepner (MUS) and pianist Sally Pinks will pay tribute to the great American composer Irving Fine, founder of the Brandeis department of music, in the annual Irving Fine Memorial Concert Oct. 22. The event is free.

The Boston Secession, a 25-person choral ensemble, will perform songs by Gilbert and Sullivan and others Nov. 18 in "What Makes It Great: Unlocking the Guilty Pleasures of Choral Masterworks."

The Marquee Series will also host performances by Auros Group for New Music and former professor Alvin Lucier, who will recreate legendary experimental composer John Cage's 1965 avant-garde concert at the Rose Art Museum. The series will conclude in December with "An Immigrant's Journey: The Complete Works for Cello and Piano by Leo Ornstein," performed by Lydian String Quartet cellist Joshua Gordon and pianist Randall Hodgkinson.

Of course, Brandeis' student ensembles will have an opportunity to display their musical skills as well. The Brandeis University Chorus, the Jazz Ensemble, the Brandeis Wind Ensemble, the Early Music Ensemble, the Improv Ensemble, the Chamber Music Ensembles, the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra and Top Score are all scheduled to perform this fall.

"The Brandeis students ensembles also had a very high [auditions] turnout this fall," Edmiston said. "The acclaimed Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra, for example, is larger than ever."

The season will conclude Dec. 13 with the annual sing-along of George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

Editors' note: For more information about MusicUnitesUS, visit brandeis.edu/ MusicUnitesUS.