By TOM BENSEN
This Wednesday, November 11, is Veterans Day. From 10:45-11:30 a.m. in Rose Park, the Western Montana Chapter of Veterans for Peace will be gathering near the Vietnam War Memorial in Missoula’s Rose Park (Mount Avenue and Blaine) to commemorate the World War I Armistice. The public is invited. Members will read poetry and remember fallen friends and relatives, and all who attend are welcome to share their thoughts as well. beginning at 11:00 a.m., at the Missoula County Courthouse, American Legion Post 101 is hosting their 34th annual Veteran’s Day Commemoration Ceremony. This year the theme is “So You Think The Battle is Over?” The public is invited to lay a flower on the honor table and join the post for a meal afterwards. Warming tent and coffee will be available. From 5:00-8:00 p.m., at the Northside Kettlehouse Taproom, the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center will be the receiving organization for the KettleHouse Community UNite. A portion of every pint sold is given back for peace!
A Carousel for Missoula will celebrate groundbreaking on its 640 square foot expansion Monday, November 9. A reception for donors and the media will begin at 10:00 a.m. The public is invited to join the event at 11:00 a.m. Special introductions and presentations, including remarks by Governor Steve Bullock, will take place at 11:10 a.m. Governor Bullock will award the Carousel a $100,000 tourism infrastructure grant from the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development.
The Missoula Art Museum presents Terrain: Plateau Native Art & Poetry through February 27, 2016; John Buck: Free for All through March 12 (pictured here); Good Wood: Carved And Cut From MAM’s Permanent Collection through March 12; A Few of My Favorite Things, an exhibition selected by MAM’s Senior Exhibition Curator Emeritus Stephen Glueckert, through December 23; MaryAnn Bonjorni: Legends Are History, through January 2.
The Montana Museum of Art & Culture presents The Intimate Diebenkorn: Drawings 1949 – 1992
now through December 12 in the
Paxson and Meloy Galleries. The exhibition features 52 pieces, many of which have never been publicly viewed, and includes pencil and ink drawings on paper, collages of torn paper and watercolors. MMAC presents a Celebrity Artist Tour with Lela Autio, Thursday, November 19, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the UM PARTV Center Lobby. Enjoy this artist’s perspective as she gives a tour of the current exhibit.
The University of Montana Department of Music presents “Jazz at The Break” with UM Jazz Small Groups, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. at Break Espresso; Student Recital Series November 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Music Recital Hall featuring Sam Carl, viola; Student Recital Series November 12 7:30 p.m. at the Music Recital Hall, featuring Kyara Nelsen, violin; UM All-Star Ensembles (Wind/Orchestra), all day, Friday through Sunday, November 13-15 at several UM locations; UM Symphonic Wind Ensemble, November 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dennison Theatre. Call 243-6880.
The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is on November 15 beginning at 5:00 p.m. at the Wilma Theatre. A showcase of award-winning films. Tickets cost $20 and are available at the UM Campus Recreation Outdoor Program. For more information, call 243-5172, or visit here.
Fact and Fiction presents Robert Lee reading and signing Guiding Elliott at 7:00 pm November 11 at F&F Downtown.
Shakespeare and Co. presents a Reading and a Dinner, November 9 at 6:30 p.m., produced and presented by Devon Lawler. Ten local writers share their work in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Dinner and beer will be provided. Donations encouraged. On Wednesday, November 11, Dallas author Merritt Tierce reads from her critically acclaimed novel Love Me Back at 7:00 pm.
The Missoula International Friendship Program (MIFP) Cross-Cultural Seminar Series presents Refugee Crisis in Europe – 20 Million People Looking for a Safe Home, tonight, November 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Roxy Theater. Free and open to the public
The International Choral Festival and the UM School of Music will present their annual benefit performance of George Frederic Handel’s “Messiah” on Sunday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dennison Theatre on the UM campus. This free concert is a beloved community sing-a-long with a volunteer chorus, which has delighted local singers and audiences annually since 1995. There is still time to join the chorus, sign-up online here. Proceeds will equally support Missoula’s 10th International Choral Festival scheduled for July 13-16, 2016 and scholarships for UM choral and orchestral students.
The University of Montana has released the Summer/Fall 2015 issue of its UM Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone E-Magazine. The magazine is online here.
From now through December 30, Clyde Coffee on the Hip Strip presents Coffee with Courtney at Clyde’s, an intriguing retrospective by the artist Courtney Blazon, created for Radius Gallery.
Radius Gallery’s second annual holiday show kicks off November 20. This year 73 artists have contributed a super-abundance of terrific artworks-over 200 small paintings, pastels, photographs, and mixed media pieces.
The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula is hosting the Annual Used Book Sale November 12-15. Call 728-3476, ext. 5 for more information.
The 21st annual Juried Student Art Exhibit opens November 12 at 5:00 p.m. at the University Center Gallery of Visual Arts. The show runs through December 10. Call 243-2813.
The Missoula Children’s Theatre and the Missoula International School present Caperuza Roja en Español (Red Riding Hood in Spanish), Friday, November 13 at 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets available here
Living Art of Montana presents “Faces of Living Art: a 22-Year Mask Retrospective”, an exhibit of masks created by Living Art workshop participants from 1993 through 2015 displayed at the Downtown Dance Collective throughout November.
The Missoula Community Theatre is holding an open audition for actors, singers and dancers to play the roles in The Drowsy Chaperone. There are approximately 15-20 characters to be cast, and the audition will take place Sunday, November 22, at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts from 12:30-4:00 p.m. on the third floor. Please use the Main Street entrance.
The Student Involvement Network at the University of Montana will host Chibi Chibi Comic Con, UM’s first comic fan convention, November 13-15 on the third floor of the University Center. The event will run from noon to 11:00 p.m. Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday.
The Art Associates of Missoula monthly meeting for November will be held at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture on the UM Campus in the PARTV Bldg, Wednesday, November 18 at 10:15 a.m. for a docent led tour of The Intimate Diebenkorn: Works on Paper 1949-1992. Art Associates meetings are free and open to the public. For more information please call Susie at 544-0891.
The String Orchestra of the Rockies presents Dido-Queen of Carthage, featuring mezzo-soprano Kimberly James with the UM Women’s Choir, November 22 at the UM Music Recital Hall. Visit here or call 493-2990.
The New Brandhout Players present An Evening at Scar Latte’s, a concert of coffee music, a performance of Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and other selections by the Montana Baroque Flute Ensemble, Backyard Recorder Concort, featuring Lucien Hut, harpsichord and soprano Melody Anderson. November 22, 7:30 p.m. at Unity Church, 546 South Ave West.
Asaph Adonai has released Supermarket Pianist: Memiors of a Pianist’s Life. It is available at Hastings on Brooks St or amazon kindle and paperback.
There will be a recital of rarely-heard music for baroque violin and harpsichord to be performed in Missoula on Sunday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m., University Congregational Church. The recital will feature St. Louis violinist Lorraine Glass-Harris and Missoula harpsichordist Aneta Panusz performing on a double-manual harpsichord and a beautiful baroque violin produced in England c. 1760. Tickets are available for presale at Rockin Rudy’s. Prices are $25 for adults and $15 for students/youth. Tune into Montana Public Radio Morning Classics in the week of November 9 for a foretaste of some of the concert repertoire. For further information call 207-9338.
For more information about arts events in the Missoula area, visit our website.
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Tom Bensen has lived in Missoula since 1986, and has been the executive director of the Missoula Cultural Council since June 2004. He has directed First Night Missoula each New Year’s Eve since 1997. He is a member of Missoula’s choral ensemble Dolce Canto, and enjoys being outdoors, whether it is hiking, biking, skiing, walking the dogs, or mowing the lawn. His wife Susan works for Montana Public Radio, and their son Peter attends Hellgate High School.