Classical Music
14. Hear Arvo Pärt
Holy moment.
The mystical, mysterious music of Arvo Pärt and the resonant spaces of St. John the Divine seem so perfectly matched that it can be hard to know which is haloing the other. Kent Tritle leads Pärt’s Te Deum on an ecumenically celestial program of works by Mendelssohn and Tavener. —J.D.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, October 15.

Museum Exhibits
15. See When the Greeks Ruled Egypt
A visit with Alex and Cleo.
The ISAW puts on smart little shows like this one that often fall beneath the radar. This time, it’s a good interesting period: the twilight of the Ancient Egyptian empire, when the Greeks took over and installed pharaohs. The most famous one was also the last: Cleopatra VII.
NYU Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, through January 4.

Theater
16. See 4:48 Psychosis
Harrowing greatness.
Sarah Kane’s reputation in New York is based almost entirely on her play Blasted. But 4:48 Psychosis, which she wrote shortly before killing herself in 1999, may be an even greater (if almost unbearable) work. First seen here for just a week in 2004, this argument over life itself returns in an acclaimed Polish production, with super�titles, starring Magdalena Cielecka. —J.G.
St. Ann’s Warehouse, October 16 through 26.

Dance
17. See L.A. Dance Project
Homecoming.
Benjamin Millepied’s two-year-old dance troupe finally comes to town, with a tight program that includes Millepied’s own �Reflections,� with a set by Barbara Kruger, and Justin Peck’s pointe-shoe-free �Murder Ballades.� —Rebecca Milzoff
October 16 through 18, BAM Howard Gilman Opera House.

TV
18. See How We Got to Now
Reconnecting.
A six-part successor to James Burke’s 1978 Connections, hosted by Steven Johnson, that works its way through history in a playfully intuitive way. How did safe drinking water lead to skateboarding, and why is air-conditioning a by-product of the printing business? Now you know. —M.Z.S.
PBS, October 15, 9 p.m.

Dance
19. Welcome Back American Ballet Theatre

Dancing across the plaza.
The season begins with a world premiere by the on-the-rise Brit Liam Scarlett (his first for ABT), plus Christopher Wheeldon’s haunting, Britten-set �Thirteen Diversions.� —R.M.
David H. Koch Theater, October 22 through November 2.

New Music
20. Hear Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile
String geniuses, dueling.
On their own, mandolinist Thile and bass virtuoso Meyer�both MacArthur fellows who also compose�are electric, breathtaking performers. Together on their new recording, Bass and Mandolin, or live, they’re a bluegrass master class.
Bass and Mandolin, out on Nonesuch Records; Town Hall, October 11.

Pop Music
21. Hear Tinashe’s Aquarius
One in a million.
The slinky-voiced R&B singer’s ultradanceable, DJ Mustard�produced �2 On� earned her comparisons to Aaliyah; her self-assured debut builds on that promise, its diverse tunes by turns club-ready and darkly experimental.
RCA Records.

Theater
22. See Big
Freeing its inner child.
The 1996 Broadway musical Big, based on the Tom Hanks film, closed after five months�victim, ironically, of an overlarge production. The York Theatre Company is offering the show in a more intimate format, presumably without the giant light-up keyboard but with lovely numbers like �Stop, Time� intact. —J.G.
The Theatre at Saint Peter’s Church, October 11 through 19.

Art
23. See America Today
Thomas Hart Benton, where you can see him.
Painted for a boardroom at the New School, then moved to an awkward display high up on the wall of an office-building lobby, this amazing mural of the Jazz Age is back on view�at eye level.
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Classical Music
24. Hear Pretty Yende
On her own two feet.
Last year, the South African soprano Pretty Yende made her debut in Le Comte Ory at the Met by tumbling down a flight of stairs. It didn’t take long for the audience to fall for her, too, thanks to her nimble voice and onstage grace. Carnegie Hall has slotted her recital debut in the smallest of its venues, so tickets will be precious. —J.D.
Weill Recital Hall, October 13.

Film
25. See Capra
Wonderful life.
Two weeks of Frank Capra is a blessed respite from our fractious world. Well, the restored Lost Horizon might be too much of one, but as ludicrous as this Shangri-La-La-Land might be, it’s pretty to think about. You also get Messrs. Smith and Deeds, and my own favorites, The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Barbara Stanwyck gets kidnapped by a Chinese warlord, the Swede Nils Asther), and the delightful The Strong Man (1926), in which Harry Langdon plays a Belgian soldier driven by love to clean up an American town. —D.E.
Film Forum, October 10 through 23; schedule at filmforum.org.