BEST BETS Saturday 8/25

8pm

Music

Olga Kern was the first woman to receive a gold medal at the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The 26-year-old Moscow-born pianist shared joint honors with Stanislav Ioudenitch of Uzbekistan. Kern will make her debut with the Pacific Symphony playing Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, one of the works that helped generate “Olgamania” among the audience at the Fort Worth competition. Pacific assistant conductor Mark Mandanaro will lead the orchestra. The program also will include Ravel’s Bolero and suites from Falla’s “Three-Cornered Hat” and Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.”* Pacific Symphony, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Saturday. 8 p.m. $18 to $67. (714) 755-5799 or (949) 855-8096.

2-3:30pm

Lecture

The history of the American West isn’t complete without stories of cowboys, Native Americans and Chinese Americans. Lisa See, author of “On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family” and guest curator of a national traveling show based on her book, will talk about how the Chinese began emigrating to America during the Gold Rush. Her lecture is at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art.* “On Gold Mountain,” a lecture by Lisa See, Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m. Free with museum admission; $5 lecture only. Seating is limited. (714) 567-3600 or www.lisasee.com.

7pm

Jazz

Fullerton sizzles during “Hot Summer Jazz Night” with musical performances by a 17-member Big Band known as Arline and the Guys. The concert of classic Big Band tunes pays homage to trumpeter and crooner Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, who would have turned 100 on Aug. 4. The event is held in conjunction with the exhibit “Be-Bop and Hi-Fi: Photographing Jazz,” which highlights six decades of music through the photographs of legendary jazz musicians, at the Fullerton Museum Center.* “Hot Summer Jazz Night,” featuring Arline and the Guys, Fullerton Museum Center, 301 N. Pomona Ave. Saturday, 7 p.m. Free. Exhibit ends Sept. 9. (714) 738-6545.

2pm

Theater

Shakespeare probably never imagined his cauldron of murder and ambition would bubble over into “MacHomer,” wherein Homer and Marge Simpson become Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and other cartoon denizens of “The Simpsons” play supporting roles. Come to think of it, Matt Groening never considered it, either. But Rick Miller, a Canadian writer-performer, got the idea of splicing Groening’s cartoon creation onto the Scottish Play. In his one-man show he plays a bevy of “Simpsons” characters playing the assorted roles of “Macbeth.” This is a return engagement for “MacHomer” after a highly praised Orange County premier last spring.* “MacHomer,” Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. Saturday 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. $16 to $22. (949) 854-4646.

7&9pm

Pop Music

Congolese singer, songwriter and saxophonist Bateke has been known to go airborne when he’s caught up in the Afro-pop blend he developed growing up in Brazzaville near the Ituri forest, where Pygmy drumming caught his ear as a child. His infectious music is ideal for an outdoor summer show, which is what he and his group, the Ancestors, will play Saturday for the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library’s Multicultural Concert series. Concert organizers typically provide a pair of dance floors flanking the folding chairs for those who can’t resist the beat.* Bateke & the Ancestors, San Juan Capistrano Regional Library, 31495 El Camino Real. 7 and 9 p.m. $7, adults; $3, children. (949) 248-7469.

9 pm

Pop Music

Heading into the final weekend of shows at Linda’s Doll Hut before owner Linda Jemison trades in her dish towel to devote herself to band management, three local favorites team up on Saturday. Joyride, the early-’90s band fronted by former Adolescents singer-guitarist-songwriter Steve Soto and singer-guitarist Greg Antista, reunites to headline a bill that also includes One Hit Wonder and the Eldorados.* Joyride, Linda’s Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams St., Anaheim. With One Hit Wonder, the Eldorados. 9 p.m. $8. (714) 533-1286.