Twenty- and thirty-somethings can see the New York City Opera on the cheap.   (Photo: Mats Backer/Courtesy of the New York City Opera)

A Maximalist Party
At 70, Steve Reich gets a birthday bash at nearly every cultural institution in town.
• Steve Reich @ 70, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, BAM, and the Whitney Museum of American Art; throughout October.

Taking Flight
The next generation at NYCB and ABT.

Mixed-Media Artist
Hip-hop poetry, piano solos, a Jon Stewart rant: To Vijay Iyer, it all sounds good.
• Still Life With Commentator, By Vijay Iyer; Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater; December 6 through 10.

Butterfly Takes Flight, on Opening Night
There’s been a regime change at the Metropolitan Opera, and new boss Peter Gelb has thrown out the decades-old tradition of kicking off the season with a superstar gala of repertoire excerpts.
• Madama Butterfly, Metropolitan Opera; season opens September 25.

The Met’s New ‘Hero’
When Tan Dun moved to New York from China in 1985, the first Western opera he saw was the Met’s Turandot, with Plácido Domingo.
• The First Emperor, By Tan Dun; Metropolitan Opera; opens December 21.

Music for Greens
David Dunn’s Driven Behaviors, which premieres at the “Ear to the Earth” festival this October.
• The Ear to the Earth Festival, October 6 through 14; details at eartotheearth.org.

The Best of the Rest
Choreography for iPods, City Opera on the cheap, Anonymous 4, and more.