The UCSB Arts & Lectures Series announced its 2012-13 season on Wednesday, and there are some amazing performances coming to town for fans of music, dance, theater and lectures.

Here are some highlights to mark on your calendar.

» The season will kick off with a solo performance by Elvis Costello on Sept. 30 at the Granada Theatre, a reprise of his visit to town in April 2010, also courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.

» Pop chanteur Rufus Wainwright will perform at Campbell Hall on Oct. 9 in support of his new album, Out of the Game.

» Experimental musician/performance artist Laurie Anderson will be returning to town on Oct. 23, two years after her last visit, giving the Southern California premiere of her latest work, called Dirtday!

» Brazilian musical icon Gilberto Gil will make his Santa Barbara debut at Campbell Hall on Oct. 26.

» Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre will present two performances of Hamlet at Campbell Hall on Nov. 8-9.

» Madcap stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard will make his Santa Barbara debut on Nov. 17 at Campbell Hall.

» Late-blooming soul singer Charles Bradley will return to town to perform at Campbell Hall on Nov. 28.

» William “Still Alive, Old Friend” Shatner will tell stories about his career, including his role as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, at the Arlington Theatre on Jan. 18, 2013.

» Violin fans can catch rising star Leonidas Kavakos’ all-Beethoven program on Feb. 15, 2013, at Hahn Hall, and Joshua Bell’s return to the Granada Theatre on Feb. 20, 2013.

» The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, with trumpet legend Wynton Marsalis, will bring a lively concert to the Granada Theatre on March 10, 2013.

» Blues at the Crossroads Two will celebrate the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf at Campbell Hall on March 12, 2013, a follow-up (with different musicians) to the first Blues at the Crossroads show.

» Bobby McFerrin will bring his vocal improvisations to the Granada Theatre on April 2, 2013, in his Santa Barbara premiere.

» Alison Balsom and the Scottish Ensemble will make their North American debut at the Granada Theatre on April 5, 2013, featuring works by George Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi.

» The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will crack up Campbell Hall on April 9, 2013.

» The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to Santa Barbara for two performances, on April 13-14, 2013.

» The Taj Mahal Trio will bring the blues to Campbell Hall on April 19, 2013, a welcome return to town after their 2011 show at the Lobero Theatre.

» The 1927 Theater Company will bring their acclaimed mix of live performance and animation, called “The Animals and Children Took to the Streets,” to Campbell Hall on April 25, 2013.

» The Handel and Haydn Society of Boston will perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and more at the Granada Theatre on May 1, 2013.

» Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who has been described as “the Carl Sagan of the 21st century,” will explain mysteries of the cosmos at the Granada Theatre on May 2, 2013.

» Andy Warhol fans will want to go to “Warhol’s World in Song: Musical Snapshots” from the 1960s at UCSB’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum on May 8, 2013.

There are many, many more events on the schedule. It looks like 2012-13 will be another great season for UCSB Arts & Lectures.

— Noozhawk contributing writer Jeff Moehlis is a professor of mechanical engineering at UCSB. Upcoming show recommendations, advice from musicians, interviews and more are available on his Web site, music-illuminati.com.