Happy November, Essential Arts readers! This weekend’s top picks for things to do are all about the music. I’m staff writer Ashley Lee, here with my colleague Jessica Gelt for another rundown of the arts and culture scene.

Best bets: On our radar this week

Día de los Muertos with Dudamel
From Times staff writers Karen Garcia and Andrea Flores’ Dia de los Muertos celebration guide: the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s three performances of vibrant Afro-Mexican and Brazilian music, under the direction of Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and featuring the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Compositions include Chôros No. 10, “Rasga o Coração” by Heitor Villa-Lobos, the L.A. Phil-commissioned “Yanga” by Gabriela Ortiz and Silvestre Revueltas’ film score “La noche de los Maya.” Friday through Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown. laphil.com

‘The Stone Guest’
The Independent Opera Company kicks off its 2024-25 season with a 19th century Russian piece by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, itself based on a short play by poet Alexander Pushkin that was inspired by the adventures of Don Juan. While this opera is fairly well known in Russian-speaking parts of the world, the work — which will be presented in concert, with supertitles and minimal movement — has rarely been performed in L.A. Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 11555 National Blvd., Los Angeles. independentopera.eventcube.io

Composer John Williams, pictured at the 2016 AFI Life Achievement Award Gala at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

(Chris Pizzello / AP)

‘Music by John Williams’
“It is surely obvious that John Williams has written by a long shot the most widely heard orchestral music of our time,” wrote Times classical music critic Mark Swed. Laurent Bouzereau’s documentary celebrates the legendary composer through interviews with Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, George Lucas, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Alan Silvestri, David Newman and more. While the film is now available on Disney+, it also screens four times daily through Nov. 7 exclusively at the El Capitan Theatre, where you can immerse yourself in all the Dolby Atmos sound that Williams’ blockbuster compositions deserve. El Capitan Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood. elcapitantheatre.com

— Ashley Lee

The week ahead: A curated calendar

Madame Gandhi, photographed in 2020, performs Saturday at UCLA’s Nimoy Theater in Westwood.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

FRIDAY
The Diva Play Vivienne Powell wrote and performs this drama about a renowned Australian opera singer reconstructing her life through a fractured mind.
Through Nov. 10. Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave. divatheplay.com

Giant Robot film series Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the influential Asian American pop culture zine, founded by Bruin alum Eric Nakamura, with a UCLA Film & Television Archive series that includes screenings of “Chungking Express,” the cult-classic 1970 telefilm “Voyage Into Space” and more.
Through Nov. 17. Billy Wilder Theater (inside the Hammer Museum), 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. cinema.ucla.edu

The Monophobic Response Inspired by Octavia Butler’s dystopian 1993 novel “Parable of the Sower” (set in 2024!), American Artist’s two-channel film and sculptural installation reimagines a 1936 rocket engine test that launched the U.S. toward space travel.
Through Monday. Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org

Bernadette Peters The Tony-winning performer belts out Broadway show tunes and American classics.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. pacificsymphony.org

SATURDAY
Giants Artist J Maskrey exhibits a series of paintings that connect the natural beauty of California’s sequoias with the cityscapes of her youth via rich oils and acrylics.
Through Nov. 17. Arcane Space, 324 Sunset Ave., Unit G, Venice. arcanespacela.com

Madame Gandhi The former drummer for M.I.A. and Thievery Corporation unleashes her own electronic percussive sound.
8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd., Westwood. cap.ucla.edu

Romeo and Juliet L.A. Opera performs composer Charles Gounod’s interpretation of the Shakespeare classic, conducted by Domingo Hindoyan and Lina González-Granados.
Through Nov. 23. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org

SUNDAY
David Foster’s 75th Birthday Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban and Jennifer Hudson are among those slated to celebrate the pop music producer and songwriter.
7 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Oskar Fischinger, “Multi wave,” 1948; oil on canvas

(Palm Springs Art Museum)

The PST Art exhibit currently on view at Palm Springs Art Museum is titled “Particles and Waves: Southern California Abstraction and Science, 1945-1990.” Times art critic Christopher Knight made the drive to check out the show, which explores the impact of the post-WWII tech boom on the region’s artists. He found the art quite interesting despite the sometimes dry subject matter. “The show is focused on how artists make art rather than pretending that art and science are on parallel tracks,” Knight writes of the exhibit, which features 66 works by 34 artists.

A world-premiere production of a play called “Joan,” based on the life of the legendary, boundary-breaking comedian Joan Rivers, opens today and runs through Nov. 24 at South Coast Repertory. Ashley Lee has all the details on the show, which “showcases Rivers’ career trajectory — her start in New York comedy clubs in Greenwich Village, her bittersweet relationship with ‘The Tonight Show’ host Johnny Carson, her own short-lived late-night series and her reinvention on Hollywood’s red carpets — with her signature acerbic wit.”

Broadway star Sutton Foster filed for divorce from her screenwriter husband, Ted Griffin, after a decade of marriage. The Tony Award-winning actress is currently starring in “Once Upon a Mattress,” a musical retelling of the princess and the pea fairy tale. Page Six reported that Foster is in a relationship with her former “The Music Man” co-star Hugh Jackman.

Artist Julian Charriere.

(Nora Heinisch / © Julian Charriere / MOCA)

There’s a new arts honor in town. The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize, presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art, pays tribute to artists whose work delves into environmental concerns and engages viewers in creative solutions. The inaugural award was initially intended to go to one artist but was instead granted to two: Julian Charrière, a French-Swiss conceptual artist based in Berlin, and Cecilia Vicuña, a Chilean poet and weaver who splits time between New York Santiago, Chile. Each artist will receive the full $100,000 stipend in addition to support from MOCA to develop a commissioned project that addresses ”the critical intersections of art, climate change, and environmental justice,” according to a news release. Charrière’s and Vicuña‘s commissioned works are scheduled to be displayed at MOCA in 2026.

This isn’t breaking news. But the date is closing in on us, so it bears repeating: The Natural History Museum will open its highly anticipated new wing to the public on Nov. 17. Called the NHM Commons, the 75,000-square-foot, $75-million renovation and expansion touts a new entrance with a landscaped plaza and garden; a 400-seat theater; the Judith Perlstein Welcome Center featuring exhibits and ticketing desks; a new cafe run by South L.A. Cafe; and a gift shop dealing in local wares.

The Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the Penn Museum is launching a three-year national study called “Museums: Missions and Acquisitions Project.” Made possible by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the research is meant to make the process behind collections decisions more transparent. It also aims to identify new models for the future collecting practices of U.S. museums.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

Here’s a video to play while filling out your ballot at home or waiting in line to vote in person. (Feel free to skip any political ads that may play before it). Remember, “Progress is possible, not guaranteed.”