Two for the show

Decisions, decisions: What to do this weekend?

Here are two suggestions: At 8 tonight, the Purchase Symphony Orchestra opens its season with a particularly challenging program. Michael Adelson leads the student ensemble in Ives' "The Unanswered Question," Bartok's "Dance Suite" and Brahms' "Symphony No. 2."

Says Adelson (right), who'll be making his debut as the orchestra's music director: "The PSO is a fantastic ensemble of highly polished young musicians who go for the jugular with each performance. I am thrilled to be making music with them."

Good luck to all on what will be a night of firsts.

Whenever I think of Ives' "Unanswered Question," I think of the wonderful coming-of-age ballet Eliot Feld created for the New York City Ballet and in particular Damian Woetzel's performance as the young man who discovers that the unanswered question is life.

The PSO opener takes place at Purchase College's Performing Arts Center, Anderson Hill Road between Purchase and King streets. Tickets are $20 and can be obtained by calling 914-251-6200 or logging on to artscenter.org

On Sunday, questions of a more material nature arise as the Katonah Museum of Art presents Robert Storr, dean of the Yale University School of Art. He'll be discussing "Art's Self-Sufficiency in a Boom/Bust Art World" at Chappaqua Crossing Auditorium (the former Reader's Digest) in Chappaqua. (The museum's galleries are currently closed for the installation of "Bold, Cautious, True: Walt Whitman and American Art of the Civil War Era," opening Oct. 18 and sure to be one of the highlights of the fall season.)

Storr is the recipient of the Katonah Museum of Art's first Himmel Award, named for arts advocate Betty Himmel, who was integral in shaping the museum's vision.

The talk is from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $85 for the general public; $75 for museum members; $25 for students. A wine reception precedes the program. The auditorium is at 480 Bedford Road. Information: 914-232-9555, ext. 2978.

Now if Storr could just help the rest of us who are not artistes survive the boom/bust world.