8 pm: Music

Hot young British conductor Mark Wigglesworth begins his two-week visit to the podium of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra with a two-work program, offering Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto--Stephen Kovacevich is the soloist--and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

* The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Mark Wigglesworth, plays at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown. Also, Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 2:30 p.m. $8-$63. (213) 850-2000.

10 am: Pop Culture

The traveling Rolling Stone Covers Tour chronicles the magazine’s colorful 30-year history. The two-day exhibition features groups of covers devoted to rock icons, musical changes and trends. Also included are the faces of pop culture, letters and memorabilia from the magazine’s archives and the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a co-presenter of the national exhibition.

* Rolling Stone Covers Tour, Ackerman Grand Ballroom, UCLA campus, 308 Westwood Plaza, Westwood. Today-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free.

7:30 pm: Theater

Debbie Allen plays Harriet Tubman in “Harriet’s Return,” Karen Jones Meadows’ portrait of the legendary Civil War-era heroine, told through words, movement and a chorus of spiritual voices and song, at the Geffen Playhouse.

* “Harriet’s Return,” Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood, Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 4 and 8:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends March 1. $27.50-$37.50. (310) 208-5454; (800) 678-5440.

7:30 pm: Movies & Art

The Pan African Film Festival and Art Show kicks off with the L.A. premieres of writer-director-actor Christopher Scott Cherot’s film “Hav Plenty” and Senegalese filmmaker Moussa Sene Absa’s “Tableau Ferrialle,” in separate theaters. The festival, which will showcase several dozen international films, is a celebration of the cultural African diaspora. In conjunction, an exhibition of fine art, folk art, jewelry, masks and photography will be on display in various locations in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood are the co-chairs of the 12-day festival.

* Pan African Film Festival and Art Show, Magic Johnson Theatres and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Tonight through Feb. 16. (213) 295-1706 for opening and closing night galas; (213) 290-5900 for all other movie tickets; (213) 896-8221 for general information.