Culture Flash!

• How long has it been since you've been in a museum? Well, that's too long! But since Sunday, Sept. 10 is the ninth annual Austin Museum Day, you can rectify that problem tout de suite – and for free! The Austin Museum Partnership, a consortium of local museums, ranging from arts institutions to botanical gardens to our presidential library, has 33 institutions taking part this year, with special activities that include sculpting demonstrations at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum; hands-on activities at the Blanton Museum of Art; a "dino dig" at the Texas Memorial Museum; a chance to meet a famous Texas Ranger at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum; and really big bugs at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. For a full list of museums and activities, visit www.austinmuseums.org/museum_day.html.

• Austin Lyric Opera artistic director Richard Buckley continues to be one busy maestro. He recently conducted the Merola Grand Finale for San Francisco Opera at War Memorial Opera House. This weekend, he's off to the Windy City to fill in for ailing Lyric Opera of Chicago music director Sir Andrew Davis and conduct a star-studded gala concert for the company on Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.