Helena Symphony Masterworks Season 2026

About Helena Symphony Masterworks Season

The Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale performs a Masterworks concert series at the Helena Civic Center from September through May, led by music director Allan R. Scott, who has held the post for more than two decades. Season 72 (2026-27) opens Sept. 12, 2026 with 'Opening Night ~ America 250,' featuring Barber's Violin Concerto and Copland's Third Symphony, and continues with programs built around guest soloists, a Bernstein/Tchaikovsky pairing called 'Forbidden Love,' a fully staged La Traviata, and closes May 1, 2027 with Beethoven's Missa Solemnis on the 200th anniversary of the composer's death.

Masterworks concerts are held at the Helena Civic Center, generally starting at 7:30 p.m., with season subscriptions priced $135 to $432 by seating section. Separately, the symphony's longest-running holiday tradition, Christmas in the Cathedral, moves the orchestra and chorale into the Cathedral of St. Helena at 530 N. Ewing St. for a Handel's Messiah program on Dec. 14 and 15, 2026, priced $25 to $70 a seat. That performance sells out most years and is often bought a season ahead.

What happens

• Six-concert Masterworks series at the Helena Civic Center, September through May
• Christmas in the Cathedral (Handel's Messiah) each December inside the Cathedral of St. Helena
• Guest soloists alongside the resident orchestra and chorale, including Composer-in-Residence cellist Ovidiu Marinescu
• A fully staged opera production (La Traviata) as part of the 2026-27 season

Tips

• Christmas in the Cathedral tickets sell out quickly; the symphony says patrons often buy a year ahead
• The box office is in the Placer Building at 21 N. Last Chance Gulch, Suite 100, open weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., separate from the concert venues themselves
• Season subscriptions save roughly 10% over buying each Masterworks concert individually