One way of looking at the programming of the National Symphony Orchestra’s outdoor weekend concerts is that the orchestra is still hewing to the safest works of American composers, despite the imminent departure of its music director, Leonard Slatkin. Another is that this is a nice night out at Carter Barron, and it’s best to just chill on the angry Second Viennese School dude act. Tonight’s program, “Music From the Americas,” might not pack a lot of surprises, but it’s hard to imagine a better setting for Copland’s El Salón México, Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, or the last movement of Grofé’s Mississippi Suite (which found second life as the Sinatra song “Daybreak”) than a warm summer evening under the stars. Dvorák’s From the New World will close the program—just try to keep that piece off the bill. Or, you know, chill. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre, 4850 Colorado Ave. NW. Free. (202) 416-8113.