Going South

* Big band--Les Brown’s Band of Renown, under the direction of Les Brown Jr., performs at a fund-raising dance for the Pierce College Foundation on Friday from 8 p.m.-midnight at the Warner Center Marriott, 21850 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills. Radio personality Chuck Cecil will emcee. Free ballroom dancing lessons will be offered those who arrive at 7 p.m. $17.50. (818) 704-9725.

* Fund-raising concert--The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Madrid Theatre, 21622 Sherman Way, Canoga Park. Saturday’s program will feature Mendelssohn’s Concerto in D minor for Violin, Piano and Strings; Lou Harrison’s Suite for Violin, Piano and Small Orchestra; Haydn’s Symphony No. 96 in D; and two pieces by Silvestre Revueltas. Jeffrey Kahane and Margaret Batjer will be the soloists. Sunday’s concert, a fund-raiser for the Valley Cultural Center, will have the same program except the Mendelssohn. $13-$50. Alex Theatre, (213) 622-7001, Ext. 215; Madrid Theatre, (818) 704-1587.

* Cultural--”Debka for Peace: Building Cultural Bridges Through the Art of Middle Eastern Dance” will be staged Saturday at 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., in the Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St. The show will feature the Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble and the Adam Basma Middle Eastern Dance Company in an artistic collaboration between the Jewish and Arabic dance troupes. The debka is a dance rooted in Arabic tradition, performed throughout Palestine, Syria and Lebanon to celebrate a good harvest. Israelis have adapted and developed their own version. $20-$75. (818) 677-2488.

* Free concert--The Topanga Symphony will perform Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Topanga Community House, 1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. The program will feature Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Faure’s Elegie for Cello and Orchestra, Gounod’s Symphony No. 1 in D and other works. Jerome Kessler and Barry Brisk will conduct. Free. (818) 999-5775.