A & E

Spend an hour hanging with some of the biggest names in art.

Through Nov. 20, Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland is offering free, guided, one-hour tours of some of the star attractions in its permanent collection.

The tour serves as an introduction to artists such as Monet, Van Gogh and Homer and the works they created. It's an opportunity to learn about the artists' lives, gain insight into why they are considered great artists and discover how their works became part of the museum's collection.

The guided drop-in tour of "The Museum Collection: Big Names in Art" begins at 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays and 6 p.m. Thursdays. The tour is free with museum admission and starts in front of the museum store.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Admission: $15; $12 for age 65 and older; $11 for ages 3 to 18 and students with ID.

Details: 412-622-3131 or www.cmoa.org.

— Alice T. Carter

Opening Monday at the American Jewish Museum, the traveling exhibit "Tempted, Misled, Slaughtered: The Short Life of Hitler Youth, Paul B." examines the devastating impact of the Nazification of Germany's youth, focusing on the experiences of a single Hitlerjunge (Hitler youth) and soldier, Paul Bayer.

Through photographs, documents and ephemera reproduced on 18 panels, the exhibit depicts how the Nazi state seduced an entire generation of German youth into active participation in its destructive mission through propaganda and control of the educational system.

During a free opening reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday evening, Dr. William Meinecke of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will discuss how totalitarian governments strip away basic human rights and use all of their citizens for their own agenda.

The exhibit continues through Dec. 31 and is free and open to the public. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays, 1 to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

The American Jewish Museum is inside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, 5738 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill.

Details: 412-521-8011 or www.jccpgh.org/museum.asp.

— Mark Kanny

Set aside OK Go's viral videos for "A Million Ways" and "Here It Goes Again." Forget that they've made one of the funniest faux instructional videos (about ping pong) on YouTube.

The Chicago based-band is both melodic and artistic, and its appearance Wednesday at Mr. Small's Theater in Millvale is part of a short club tour to promote music from a new album, "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky," that's scheduled to be released in January. Press materials also indicate that the band is "working on videos for all songs on their new CD," so anything is bound to happen.

Admission for the 8 p.m. show, which features the promising local band Donora as opening act, is $22.

Details: 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com.

— Rege Behe

Trinity Cathedral will be the surprising host to a showing of the 1925 silent film classic "Phantom of the Opera" the night before Halloween. It makes sense in a way, because the big pipe organ will be used for a live "soundtrack" played by Michael Britt.

The evening will include a docent-led tour of the colonial-era burying ground on cathedral property.

The showing starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Downtown cathedral. Suggested donation: $10; $5 for students; $20 for families.

Details: 412-232-6404.

— Mark Kanny

Just because the weather is cooling doesn't mean that Venture Outdoors is slowing down.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the outdoor activity advocacy group is sponsoring a coffee-tasting hike that will meet at La Prima Expresso on Smallman Street. At a tour of the roasterie, hike participants will hear about how the beans are prepared, sample new tastes and munch on biscotti. Each person also will receive a half-pound of coffee to take home. Then, to wear off the jitters, everyone will set out on an urban hike through Downtown.

The hike is listed as easy, and the whole event is scheduled for about four hours. Participation is $27; $20 for members.

At 7 p.m. Monday, Venture Outdoors will host a moderately challenging Full Moon Hike that begins in Deer Lakes Park, 1090 Baileys Run Road, West Deer. The hike will cover 3 to 5 miles at a moderate pace that includes traveling up and down hills in search of nocturnal animals and good places for observing the stars. Cost: $8. Detailed information on where to meet, what to wear and what to bring will be supplied after registration.

Details for both hikes: 412-255-0564 or www.ventureoutdoors.org.

You have to cheer a musician who welcomes visitors to her Web site with, "Greetings, my marmosets." But if the comedy thing fails, Jenny Owen Youngs has a fallback. The Brooklyn resident, appearing Monday at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville, sings like a seasoned pro on her new album, "Transmitter Entity."

Her songs are invested with smart lyrics and her girlish vocals, but she has a wicked sense of the possibilities of music. Just listen to her smart version of Nelly's "Hot in Herre" on her MySpace page.

Youngs' 7 p.m. show, which features opening act Scott Rogers, is a WYEP-FM member-appreciation event.

Details: 412-381-9131 or www.wyep.org.

— Rege Behe

The menu on State Radio's Web site (www.stateradio.com) includes links to information about tour dates, photos and music. But there's also a category, activism, that's more than just a list of organizations that promote various causes. Band member Chad Stokes and his partner Sybil Gallagher founded Calling All Crows, a call to action for musicians and fans, with a current focus on ending violence against women and promoting public service. In the past year, State Radio's fan community has donated more than 1,300 hours to soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and raised money to buy stoves and stop violence in Sudan.

Not incidentally, the music is pretty good, wiry rock with potent messages.

State Radio performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Mr. Small's Theatre in Millvale, with My Antenna as the opening act. Admission: $15.

Details: 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com.

— Rege Behe

The adventurous musicians of Ion Sound Project will offer film and music on Sunday at the first concert of their second year in residence at the University of Pittsburgh.

The show, called "Reduce," features an original work by film director and video artist Chris Ivey and three pieces adapted from larger orchestrations for the chamber ensemble. The group's pianist, Robert Frankenberry, who also is an opera singer and conductor, made the arrangements for Gustav Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder," which will be sung by guest contralto Daphne Alderson, and Maurice Ravel's "Mother Goose" Suite.

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Sunday at Bellefield Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Oakland. General admission is $15, $10 for students and seniors; $8.50 and $5, respectively, if purchased in advance.

Details: 412-394-3353.

— Mark Kanny

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