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Stacker compiled a list of the best four-year colleges in Montana using rankings from Niche. Tuition, student-to-faculty ratio, acceptance rate, and graduation rate are among the factors considered in deciding these rankings.
The Helena Symphony presents “Mozart by Candlelight,” featuring the music of Mozart and Beethoven, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24-25 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 512 Logan St.
The cost is $50.
An overture and a symphony by Mozart are paired with Beethoven’s witty and cheerful Fourth Symphony – and all by candlelight. “Mozart by Candlelight” is presented thanks to Montana Internet and Boxwoods Fine Homes & Lifestyle.
Single concert tickets can be purchased online at www.helenasymphony.org, by calling the Symphony Box Office (406-442-1860), or visiting the Symphony Box Office on the Walking Mall at the Placer Building (21 N. Last Chance Gulch, Suite 100) 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Helena Symphony musicians perform a previous “Mozart by Candlelight” concert.
“The music of the opera is full of Mozart’s brilliance and original ideas that is the hallmark of his writing, including vivid, complex characters,” maestro Allan R. Scott said. “While the overture is completely devoid of themes from the opera itself, it does set a noble tone to suggest the Roman monarch (as well as alluding to the coronation of the new Austrian king).”
Scott said part of Beethoven’s rarely seen sense of humor “was a love of creating false expectations.”
“The opening of the Symphony is just that – a seemingly heavy, gloomy opening that seems to want to lead to another intense work; yet, the upbeat tempo will convey a light-hearted composition, full of joy,” he said.
The symphony is celebrating its 70th season.
Other highlights coming up in 2025 includes Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, the return of renowned pianist Roman Rabinovich, and Beethoven’s immortal Emperor Piano Concerto with noted pianist Rodolfo Leone.
Season 70 also includes several free Symphony Kids Concerts and a black-tie Masquerade in June! Season tickets for the remaining concerts of the Masterworks Series presented by AARP Montana are available at a reduced rate. In addition to the substantial discounts on season tickets, subscribers also receive the Bring A Friend Pass, The Art of Listening Newsletter and several other benefits.
Cardiello Art Garage at 912 8th Ave. in Helena will have “No-school day Art Camps,” 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 27 and Feb. 17. Cost is $50 per day.
Adult Art Class is 10 a.m. to noon Thursdays, $20 per class.
Fifth grade Middle School/High School Art Class is 5-6:30 p.m. Tuesdays and $20 per class.
For more information, go to https://cardielloartgarage.com/contact or call 406-438-3858
Registration is underway for Adult Continuing Education Classes in the spring at the Bray.
The Bray Gallery
The Bray offers adult (16-plus) continuing education classes for all abilities and backgrounds.
Continuing Education Classes are now 10 weeks long and meet for three hours once a week. Students, taught by professional artists, have access to open studio time seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (outside of other scheduled classes) to practice what they’re learning.
Classes include:
Read about each class and register at https://archiebray.org/education/adult-continuing-education/
The following is a list of 2025 Montana Playwright Network Winter Classes offered at the Helena Avenue Theatre, 1319 Helena Ave.
To register, go to https://go.helenair.com/by74ea or call 406-235-0353.
The Actor In Character with Bruce Hall
Jan. 21 to March 4: 6-8:30 p.m.
Helena Avenue Theatre
Acting is fun, and it’s also serious business. Through monologues, scene work and emotion-driven improv, this class explores how to personalize and commit to character as a way of becoming a more honest actor. (course fee: $150).
Hall is a theater director and educator with an MFA in acting from Yale University, a BA in drama from the University of Montana, and an MA in psychology from Antioch. He has taught drama and music in Seattle schools for 20 years and has produced works as a director, writer and composer for regional theaters and Broadway.
Improv Foundations with LeAnn Books
Jan. 27 to March 17: 6:30-8:30 p.m. (no class: 2/17)
Learn fundamentals of improv in a fun, energetic, low-stakes environment! No improv background or experience required. This course will help improve listening and communication skills as we dive into uncertainty and uncover the humor. (course fee: $150)
Next Level Improv with LeAnn Books
March 31 to April 21: 6-8:30 p.m.
(Prerequisite Improv Foundations or prior experience required.) Build on skills learned in Improv Foundations and explore long-form improvisation techniques in preparation for public improv and comedy performance. Students are eligible for participation in the new Comedy Club appearing this spring at the HAT. (course fee: $135)
Books believes that laughing together is powerful medicine, and that improv is a compelling personal growth experience.
Playwriting Basics with Pamela Jamruszka Mencher
Jan. 27 to March 17: 6:30-8:30 p.m. (no class: 2/17)
Write compelling short plays and scripts. Classes explore techniques for writing plays and screenplays, as well as staging and production mechanics for live theatre and film. (course fee: $150)
As a playwright, actor, director, producer, designer and college professor, Jamruszka Mencher has received honors and awards in her playwriting, teaching and professional theater careers. She now serves as the Montana Playwrights Network president and executive director of the Helena Avenue Theatre.
The Montana Historical Society welcomes the public to its lecture series.
On Jan. 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Lewis & Clark Library, Douglas H. MacDonald, professor of archaeology at the University of Montana, will delve into the history of Montana in his book talk on “Land of Beginnings: The Archaeology of Montana’s First Peoples.”
While researchers have learned a great deal about the origins of the first people to call this region home, questions remain about which route or routes they took and when they made this journey.
Thursday lectures held at the Lewis & Clark Library will be recorded and posted on the MTHS YouTube channel.
Free tours of the Original Governor’s Mansion are offered every Saturday at noon, 1, 2, and 3 p.m.
For more information about MTHS’s community events, visit https://mths.mt.gov/ or email laura.marsh@mt.gov.
Tickets are on sale for two evenings of entertainment at the Last Chance Stampede and Fair in Helena.
Rodney Atkins and Ian Munsick will co-headline the night show on July 23, and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham takes the stage on July 24.
Atkins, an ACM Award-winning country music artist, has six No. 1 radio singles and over 4 billion global streams.
Munsick’s music speaks to the cowboy way of life, ranching, roping, riding and rodeoing.
For the second night, Dunham, a ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor, brings his multiple personality disorders to the Stampede. Called “America’s Favorite Comedian” by Slate magazine, Dunham’s characters are politically incorrect and ill-tempered and bring laughs to adult crowds.
Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and his puppet character Walter.
General admission tickets for the night show on July 23 are $55-$75. For the Jeff Dunham show, tickets range in price from $40-$70. No refunds or exchanges will be made.
Tickets are on sale at LCCFairgrounds.com. They can also be purchased at the fairgrounds box office during office hours.
For more information, call 406-457-8516.
Nominations for the 2025 High Plains Book Awards open Jan. 6, and will be accepted through March 7. Information and nomination forms can be found online at highplainsbookawards.org.
The Billings Public Library Board of Directors established the High Plains Book Awards in 2007 to recognize regional authors and/or literary works that examine and reflect life on the High Plains. The High Plains region includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The 2025 awards feature 13 book categories: Art and Photography, Children’s Picture Book, Children’s Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction, First Book, Indigenous Writer, Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Short Stories, Woman Writer, and Big Sky Award.
Nominated books must be published for the first time in 2024. Winners of each category will be announced at an awards event held in October in Billings, and each winner will receive $500 provided by sponsors.
Each nominated book is read and evaluated by four different community readers.
Finalist books in each category will be announced in June. Winners in each category will be determined by a panel of published writers with connections to the High Plains region.
For more information about the High Plains Book Awards, visit www.highplainsbookawards.org or contact Shari Nault, High Plains Book Awards president, at (406) 672-6223 or sharinault3@gmail.com.
Submissions to the Around the Town calendar should be emailed to irarts@helenair.com and should be 200 words or fewer. Submissions should be written in story form, no flyers please. Please write “Around the Town” in the subject line. Call Phil Drake at 406-447-4086 if you have questions.
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Stacker compiled a list of the best four-year colleges in Montana using rankings from Niche. Tuition, student-to-faculty ratio, acceptance rat…
Helena Symphony musicians perform a previous “Mozart by Candlelight” concert.
Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and his puppet character Walter.
Helena Avenue Theatre
The Bray Gallery
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