The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts’ eighth season begins tonight (Sept. 25) with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and continues with singing legend Merle Haggard and his outlaw country music (Sept. 28); American soprano Christine Brewer, with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra (Oct. 4); and Obama campaign manager David Plouffe in the Distinguished Speakers Series (Oct. 5).

Here is information on the rest of the Mondavi Center’s programming for the first half of October:

• Cashore Marionettes: Simple Gifts — A series of comic and poignant scenes taken from everyday life and set to music by composers such as Beethoven, Vivaldi and Copland. 7 p.m. Oct. 9-11, and 2 p.m. Oct. 10-11, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. Postperformance question-and-answer sessions. School matinees, recommended for grades kindergarten-6, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Oct. 6-8, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

• Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano, with Eugenia León — On this return visit to the Mondavi Center, Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano performs with a special guest: Mexican singing star Eugenia León. 8 p.m. Oct. 9, Jackson Hall. School matinee, recommended for grades K-12, 11 a.m. Oct. 9, Jackson Hall.

• An Acoustic Evening with Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt — American singer-songwriters “On Stage Together.” The multigenre Lovett is the recipient of four Grammy Awards, including best country album, The Road To Ensenada (1996) and best pop vocal collaboration, with Al Green, “Funny How Time Slips Away” (1994). Hiatt performs blues and rock on 20 albums of his own, and he is the songwriter behind a number of other people’s hits, including Eric Clapton and B.B. King (“Riding with the King”), Bonnie Raitt (“Thing Called Love”) and Jeff Healy (“Angel Eyes”). 8 p.m. Oct. 13, Jackson Hall.

• Yamato Taiko Drummers — Their performances are infused with the idea that the drumbeat, like the heartbeat, is the very pulse of life. That pulse grows to a thunder as the drummers put their souls into playing the traditional wadaiko drums that range from the tiny hand-held uchiwa daiko to the giant odaiko, made from a 400-year-old tree. 8 p.m. Oct. 15, Jackson Hall. School matinee, Yamato: The Drummers of Japan, recommended for grades K-12, 11 a.m. Oct. 15, Jackson Hall.

Tickets: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org. Educators interested in purchasing school matinee tickets should call (530) 754-4689.