November in the Neighborhood: Leaf-peeping tours, embassy concerts, Thanksgiving jazz

Get your fill of fall foliage: If you believe the forecasters, leaf peeping opportunities will peak in the DC region on Nov. 7, and already many trees are resplendent in their autumn reds, oranges and golds. Hillwood Museum’s gardens and Rock Creek Park are great places to immerse yourself in the season’s changes. On Nov. 5, you can join a park ranger at the Rock Creek Nature Center for a two-mile hiking tour of fall leaves. There’s also a ranger-led bike tour on Nov. 22.

Learn at lectures: Hillwood’s annual Frederick J. Fisher Lecture on Nov. 3 focuses on the rare surviving objects from the earliest moving pictures and explores a Hillwood exhibition of fashions in silent films. And at Levine Music on Nov. 7, a lecture and performance explores innovations in Beethoven’s chamber music.

Music at the Embassy of Austria: Something of a hidden gem, the embassy at the dead end of International Court periodically opens its doors to the public for free concerts and talks organized by Austrian Cultural Forum Washington. Two concerts this month feature Austrian pianist and composer Jonathan Lucas Hauser on Nov. 10, and marimbists Lucid Duo on Nov. 17.  

A jazzy Thanksgiving: It’s more of a family, friends and food holiday than a music holiday, but UDC’s small jazz ensembles will try to change our tune. Head to the recital hall in Building 46-West (behind the university’s Theater of the Arts) at 2 p.m. on Nov. 24.

Another display of colorful trees: Hillwood decks the halls starting on Nov. 24 through Jan. 3. This year’s Christmas décor draws inspiration from the museum’s “Interwoven: A Tradition of Textiles” special exhibition.