This week on Birge’s Picks, the South Dakota Symphony and Mesabi Symphony Orchestra transport their audiences to Italy with performances of music by Respighi, Verdi and Puccini, while orchestras across Minnesota prepare for Halloween weekend.

• Sioux Falls has the sparkling cascades of the Big Sioux River, but Saturday it also has The Fountains of Rome, when the South Dakota Symphony plays that famous tone poem by Ottorino Respighi for its season opener. Bolero, too!

• The Mesabi Symphony Orchestra takes you to Italy, as well, bringing Puccini and Verdi to Minnesota’s Iron Range with members of Duluth’s LOON (Lyric Opera of the North). The concert is free this weekend in Hibbing and Virginia.

• The St. Cloud Symphony debuts its new conductor this weekend. His name is auspicious: Hisham Bravo Groover. He’ll get bravos for a concert that’s in the groove with famous dance music, “Shall We Dance.”

• If a danse macabre better suits your Halloween mood, the Minnesota Orchestra has cinematic tricks and treats when it screens Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and performs Danny Elfman’s score live. But hurry; it’s the hottest ticket in Halloween Town.

This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment‘s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.