Classical: J.S. Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” will highlight the 25th Bach Week Festival in Evanston, which runs Friday to May 10 in the splendid acoustics of St. Luke’s Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston. Richard Webster conducts. 847-945-5625.
– John von Rhein
Pop music: A little more than a year after his first House of Blues appearance, Merle Haggard returns Wednesday. Once known best for his controversial “Okie From Muskogee,” Haggard’s other work is being rediscovered by a new generation. 312-923-2000.
– Monica Eng
Theater: “Let Me Live,” a real firestorm of a play set in a hellhole Georgia prison of 1932 is burning up the stage in a sensationally staged and enacted production at the Goodman Theatre Studio, through May 10. 312-443-3800.
– Richard Christiansen
Art: This is the final week for “Bernini’s Rome: Italian Baroque Terracottas from the State Hermitage, St. Petersburg,” a splendid exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago celebrating the 400th birthdays of sculptors Gianlorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardi. 312-443-3600.
– Alan G. Artner
Jazz: The term “multi-instrumentalist” is used loosely these days, but it genuinely applies to Ira Sullivan, the rare musician who is equally persuasive on multiple reed and brass instruments. He opens Tuesday at the Jazz Showcase. 312-670-BIRD.
– Howard Reich
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TV: In a role written for her, Helen Mirren sings blues, deals art and solves a murder in “Masterpiece Theater: Painted Lady.” The first half of this engrossing four-hour miniseries starts Sunday (8 p.m., WTTW-Ch. 11) and concludes May 3.
– Steve Johnson