Fun things to do in Thurston County this week

Masterworks Choral Ensemble is back with the first concert of its season, “Sacred Elements: Earth, Air, Fire & Water.” The program is based on the key spiritual essences of the four principal elements: earth, air, fire, water. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Washington Center for Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $22 plus a $3 facility fee. Call 360-753-8586 to get yours or go to washingtoncenter.org.

Kicking off its “Highways & Byways” season, The Olympia Symphony will feature the music of Leonard Berstein, Michael Daugherty, Aaron Copland, Claude Debussy and Glazunov, and guest artist Felicity James will perform a violin concerto. The concert begins at 7 p.m. Sunday, with Huw Edwards conducting, at the Washington Center for Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE. Tickets are $7, $12, $25, $40, $50 and $60 plus a $3 facility fee. Get yours by phone or online; 360-753-8586, washingtoncenter.org

Known for his witty sense of humor, famed photographer Vincent J. Musi will share his experiences and encounters with animals as part of the National Geographic Live speaker series, making a stop in Olympia Tuesday evening. Musi has rubbed elbows with a bonobo with a 300-word vocabulary, observed a crow that makes and uses tools, and visited with some of the world’s most exotic animals. The presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Washington Center for Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $22, $32, $39 and available by phone or online; 360-753-8586, washingtoncenter.org

Veteran Portland comedian Susan Rice has been featured on Comedy Central, ABC, and CBS and voted Portland’s funniest comedian. Her act touches on sex, small annoyances of everyday life, and aging with what she refers to as “a potty mouth.” She’ll perform at the Oly Underground, 109 Legion Way SW, Olympia, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $10 at the door.

After a decade-long hiatus, Olympia band Old Time Relijun is hitting the road for a 23rd anniversary concert tour of the West Coast. Their music is known as Liberation Music, unleashing the beast in primordial sound. The group is reuniting with the classic “Catharsis in Crisis” lineup featuring bandleader Arrington de Dionyso. Also taking the stage at the 8 p.m. concert Friday will be Oh Rose and The Black Tones. Presented by the Olympia Film Society, the concert is at the Capitol Theater, 325 Fifth Ave. SE. Tickets are $10, $7 for OFS members, and are available online at olympiafilmsociety.org

The 12th annual Lord Franzannian's Royal Olympian Spectacular Vaudeville Show will be at Octapas Cafe, 414 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, for a two-weekend run starting Friday. Storyteller Elizabeth Lord will again host the fast-paced variety show with dance, music, comedy, storytelling, burlesque, even feats of amazement. And fair warning: Last year's show sold out each night. Octapas Café offers a full dinner menu and full service bar, so you can come early for dinner then see the show. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, with all-ages matinees at 2 p.m. Oct. 14 and 21. (Other shows are for 16 and older.) Tickets are $15-$25 at the door (however, no one will be turned away for lack of funds), and kids get into matinees for $7. Reserve a seat online at http://vaudeville.brownpapertickets.com.

Join in the fun of self-published works at the annual Olympia Zine Fest. The kick-off and Zine-a-thon starts Friday at the Olympia Timberland Library, 313 Eighth Ave. SE. Meet up with other zine-lovers while using library resources to finish up your zines. Enjoy the open mic zine reading and cap off the evening with the band Spider and the Webs. The festival continues Saturday at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW, with an expo and workshops, and there will be a zine reading hosted by Mimi Thi Nguyen at Le Voyeur, 404 E. Fourth Ave. Sunday will wind down the event with a Zine brunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Mixx 96 Meeting Room, 119 Washington St., NE. To learn more, go to olympiazinefest.org