WEEKEND FORECAST

TODAY

MUSIC

Playing one atop of another

A palimpsest, according to the dictionary, is a manuscript that has been written upon several times, with the previous texts still partly visible. It’s also the name of a musical piece composed in 1979 by Iannis Xenakis. Young Riddle’s Nimbus Ensemble plays it and goes it one better by premiering a piece, commissioned from Cal State Northridge professor Dan Hosken, that is built atop the work. The mind begins to reel. Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, as arranged by Felix Greissle, completes the program.

Nimbus Ensemble, Zipper Concert Hall, Colburn School of Performing Arts, 200 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 tonight. $35 in advance; $40 at the door. (818) 591-0232; www.nimbusensemble.org.

MUSEUMS

Sustainable designs

The A+D Architecture and Design Museum presents “Enlightened Development,” an exhibition analyzing the role that the developer plays in our environment. The projects the museum presents as “enlightened” incorporate architectural talent, ecological sustainability and resourcefulness into their designs. The show includes works by Community Corp. of Santa Monica, Modern Homes, AEG Worldwide, Urban Environments and Bond Cos., among many others.

“Enlightened Development,” A+D Architecture and Design Museum, 5900 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Opens today. $2.50 to $5. (323) 932-9393.

* Hours: 10 a.m.to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ends May 5.

FRIDAY

MUSIC

Salonen, the composer

Lest we forget that it’s composer as well as Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, the orchestra will play the U.S. premiere of his “Helix” this weekend. The work was written at the request of conductor Valery Gergiev for the World Orchestra for Peace to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Salonen also will lead the Suite from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand with piano soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 11 a.m. Friday. $15 to $135. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.com.* Also 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

POP MUSIC

So long to Sympathy

Among the few who still hew to the original ideal of “indie rock,” none embodies the concept better than Long Gone John, whose Long Beach record label Sympathy for the Record Industry has been a ruggedly independent outlet for its owner’s garage-leaning rock vision for nearly two decades. Even if he hadn’t found such stars-to-be as the White Stripes, the idiosyncratic entrepreneur would be an invaluable local resource, and his imminent relocation to Olympia, Wash., is the occasion for a noisy send-off at Spaceland, with Sympathy bands the Ettes, Miss Derringer, Buck and Candypants. And, as always at such events, “special guests” to be announced.

“So Long Sympathy,” Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., L.A. 9 p.m. Friday. $10. (323) 661-4380.

MOVIES

Of ethics and secrets

The Oscar-nominated Danish drama “After the Wedding” stars Mads Mikkelsen as a man who runs an orphanage in India and reluctantly returns home to meet with a wealthy potential donor. He discovers himself confronted with secrets from his past and a compelling ethical dilemma. Director Susanne Bier (“Open Hearts,” “Brothers”) re-teams with writer Anders Thomas Jensen.

“After the Wedding,” rated R for some language and a scene of sexuality, opens Friday in selected theaters.

SATURDAY

JAZZ

Love for the accordion

It’s been an appealing season for fans of the accordion, highlighted by a stream of international artists performing in the Skirball Center’s continuing “Compressing the World” series. But the versatile Frank Marocco is in L.A. all the time, and it’s a fair bet that you’ve heard him playing in a film or television score or on a commercial. He’s at his jazz best, though, fronting his own quartet, with alto saxophonist John Whinnery bassist John Giannelli and drummer Sinclair Lott.

Frank Marocco Quartet, Giannelli Square of Northridge, 19451 Londelius St., Northridge. 8 p.m. Saturday. $20; $15 for students (refreshments included). (818) 772-1722.

EVENTS

Look, up in the air

The Air Force Thunderbirds will headline the 42nd Point Mugu Air Show this weekend near Oxnard. In addition to the precision flying team, the show will be an aerial showcase for such state-of-the-art and vintage U.S. military aircraft as the F-22A Raptor (the latest stealth fighter), the F-15E Strike Eagle, the FA-18 Super Hornet, the P-51 Mustang and the C-130J Super Hercules. Additionally, there will be civilian aerobatic flying acts, including Eddie Andreini, Bill Cornick and Michael Hunter.

Point Mugu Air Show, Naval Air Station Point Mugu, North Mugu Road, Point Mugu. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Free; $15 to $95 for premium seating. (800) 367-5833. www.nbvc.navy.mil/airshow07/index.html.* Also 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

ART

Hunter and the hunted

Mindful of characterizations of male bonding as being nurtured within a mutually supportive group, fortified through its clashes with an outsider, Thomas Schmidt’s “Obsurd” tackles the subject of hunting as its primeval form; he even joined up with a group of male hunters on an excursion, experiencing firsthand the bonds forged through this ancient ritual. The question of “At what cost?” seems a particularly loaded trope in light of the provocative and grotesque images of animals he presents in this exhibition.

“Thomas Schmidt: Obsurd,” Sixteen:One Gallery, 2116-B Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. Opens Saturday. (310) 450-4394.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Saturday. Ends April 28.

EVENTS

Blossom festival

Japanese Consul General Kazuo Kodama will offer the toast to kick off the sixth annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. This Japanese and Asian-flavored spring celebration will offer live entertainment, cultural demonstrations, crafts, dancing, drumming, children’s activities and fashion shows. Food booths at the festival will include Japanese, Hawaiian, Mexican and other ethnic cuisines, and such carnival-style snacks as funnel cake and kettle corn.

Cherry Blossom Festival, Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St., L.A. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Free. (213) 680-3700. www.cherryblossomfestivalsocal.org* Also 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

THEATER

Whose house is it?

Shmuel Hasfari’s play “Master of the House,” winner of Israel’s national Best Play Award of 2003, explores the complexities of contemporary Israel through a familiar marital battleground: She wants to remodel an old apartment; he’s determined to keep everything the same. Richard Stein directs the American premiere.

“Master of the House,” Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Opens 7:30 p.m. Saturday (invitation-only gala). $25 to $65. www.lagunaplayhouse.com

* Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Exceptions: 2 and 8 p.m. April 12, 2 and 7 p.m. April 22; ends April 29.

SUNDAY

BOOKS

Readings

by two

authors

Joanna Scott’s well-observed, evocative fiction has won her wide acclaim: a collection of short stories, “Various Antidotes,” was a finalist for the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award; a novel, “The Manikin,” was a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize. She is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Lannan Award and is most recently the author of “Everybody Loves Somebody,” a collection of 10 stories. Ben Marcus has lent his wildly surreal yet satirically pedestrian voice to three books: “The Age of Wire and String,” “The Father Costume” and “Notable American Women.” He is the chair of the master’s program in creative writing at Columbia University.

Hammer Readings: Joanna Scott & Ben Marcus, Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 6 p.m. Sunday. (310) 443-7000.