Mississippi Symphony Orchestra

7:30 p.m. Friday; conducted by Crafton Beck, will perform favorite operatic melodies; admission: free, but donations accepted; sponsored by Four Seasons of the Arts and underwritten by private donations; Vicksburg Convention Center.

Ian Hominick Piano Workshop

10 to 11:30 a.m. Jan. 31; class for intermediate pianists presented by internationally known pianist; free, but donations accepted; funded by grant from Mississippi Music Teachers’ Association; Southern Cultural Heritage Center:  601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org; for info on Hominick: www.ianhominick.com/bio.htm.

To Vicksburg with Love

Noon Feb. 10; third annual musical event featuring Jane and Norman Joseph; sponsored by Pi Alpha Kappa Sorority and Southern Cultural Heritage Center; admission: $10, includes lunch and entertainment; reservations necessary; 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

Rhapsody on the River

7 p.m. Feb. 12; Russian concert pianist and Vladimir Zaitsev will join St. Joseph Orchestra for show; tickets: $25 per person for Southern Cultural Heritage Center or St. Joseph Arts members and $35 for nonmembers, available in advance only and include dinner and entertainment; private/corporate tables for eight are $250; tickets available at SCHC office, Chamber of Commerce and Paper Plus or by calling 601-631-2997; cash bar will be available, photographer Gary Haygood will take souvenir photos.

Lenten Fine Arts Series

Begins at noon March 6; runs each Friday during Lent at The Church of the Holy Trinity Episcopal, 900 South St.; concerts followed by gumbo lunch; Dorothy Brasfield: 601-942-5469. Mardi Gras Mask Workshop

3:45-5 p.m. Feb. 20; for ages 5 and older; taught by Kathy Gibson, Vicksburg High art instructor; $10 per child; Southern Cultural Heritage Center: 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

Eighth Annual Mardi Gras Parade

4 p.m. Feb. 21, sponsored by Main Street; to enter: visit office at 1413 Walnut St., call 601-634-4527 or visit www.downtownvicksburg.org; deadline: 4 p.m, Feb. 6.

Seventh Annual Mardi Gras Ball

8 p.m. Feb. 21, sponsored by Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation; tickets: $30 per person; Nancy Bell, 601-636-5010.

75th Anniversary of Scouting in Vicksburg

Banquet by Boy Scouts of America Troop 7 set for Feb. 8 at Knights of Columbus Hall on Fisher Ferry Road; troop sponsored by Knights of Columbus, Council 898; anyone who has been affiliated with the troop encouraged to attend; information or reservations: Johnny Nassour at johnnymo@canufly.net or Joe Dirago at 800-733-3041.

2009 Holly Days Arts and Crafts Show

Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation accepting applications for 2009 event, set for 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 5; vendor space limited, acceptance based on images of crafts or art; exhibit space: $40 for SCHF members, $50 for nonmembers; applications must be postmarked no later than Aug. 1.; acceptance letters will be sent by Sept. 1; 601-631-2997 or www.southernculture.org.

NAMI 12-week sessions

Hosted by Mississippi’s chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness; for families, friends of people with schizophrenia and major depression as well as bipolar, panic, obsessive-compulsive, borderline personality, co-occurring brain and addictive disorders; classes free, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. beginning Feb. 5 at Warren-Yazoo Mental Health Service on Wisconsin Avenue.; to register: Ann Jensen, 800-357-0388.

Children’s Creative Writing Class

Led by Irene Graham; 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. March 18 (during Vicksburg Warren School District’s intercession week); $35 per person for ages 10-14; bring lunch; registration required, limited to 20; Southern Cultural Heritage Center, 601-631-2997, info@southernculture.org, www.thecreativewritersworkshop.com.

Jackson Audubon Society

Monthly meeting; 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27; A.E. Wood Memorial Library, 111 Clinton Blvd., Clinton; speaker: Rob Heflin of Belzoni on prothonotary warbler nest box trail in the Delta; 601-956-7444 or www.jacksonaudubonsociety.org.

Intermediate piano workshop

10 a.m. Jan. 31; taught by internationally known Ian Hominick; free, but donations accepted; Southern Cultural Heritage Center; 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

Dance classes

This month’s dance: fox trot; taught by James Frechette, owner of the Jackson-area Applause Dance Factory; 5 to 7 tonight and Jan. 25; $20 per person for each class; Southern Cultural Heritage Center; 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

River Kids spring session

Free, after-school art program by Southern Cultural Heritage Center; kicks off Jan. 29, runs 3:45 to 5 p.m. each Thursday; open to children in first through sixth grades, space limited; Kathy Gibson and Karen Biedenharn, instructors; 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

Jewish Cinema South

Regional network of film festivals; sponsored by Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life; Jackson schedule (all shown at Millsaps College Recital Hall): “Sixty-Six,” 7 p.m. Wednesday; “The Counterfeiters,” 7 p.m. Jan Thursday; “Arranged,” 7 p.m. Saturday; “Playing with Lior,” 2 p.m. Jan. 25; info: 601-362-6357 or www.isjl.org.

Delta Bridal Fair

9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday; Washington County Convention Center, Greenville; 662-335-7809.

Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi raffle

2008 Honda Civic from Jackson-area dealership Patty Peck Honda; tickets (tax-deductible): $25 for one, $100 for five, $200 for 10; drawing March 26, winner doesn’t have to be present; www.msdiabetes.org or 601-957-7878.

‘Gold in the Hills’ auditions

2 this afternoon and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; needed for 1890s melodrama: actors and actresses ages 6 through adult and singers and dancers ages teen through adult, play requires a few parts for children and numerous parts for teens and adults, cancan dancers must be in at least ninth grade; production dates: Friday and Saturday nights, March 13-April 4; Vicksburg Theatre Guild’s Parkside Playhouse, 101 Iowa Ave; 601-636-0471 or www.e-vtg.com.

‘The Fantasticks’ auditions

Friday-Saturday; needed for timeless tale of lovers found and lost are six men able to play characters 15-24, 18 or older, 30-50, 40-60 and 50 or older; one woman able to play a character 14-22; and one non-gender-specific character 18 or older; production dates: April 23-26 and 30 and May 1-3; Vicksburg Theatre Guild’s Parkside Playhouse, 101 Iowa Ave.; 601-636-0471 or www.e-vtg.com.

Children’s Quilting Workshop

Taught at Southern Cultural Heritage Center by quilting professional Diane Jordan; 8:30 a.m.-noon March 18, during the Vicksburg Warren School District’s intercession week; mothers welcome, students will create charm square quilt; $65 per child, includes a quilting fabric kit; participants must bring small scissors, seam ripper, neutral thread, large zip-top bag, sewing machine; few machines for rent for $20; space limited to 12; 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

Writing Seminars

Led by Irene Graham, founder of The Creative Writer’s Workshop; fiction writing: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 19-21; memoir writing: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 22-24; $530 for Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation members, $545 for nonmembers; space limited, reservations required; 601-631-2997 or info@southernculture.org.

Writers Conference

Led by Michael Garrett, thriller author Stephen King’s first editor; March 7-8; Southern Cultural Heritage Center; $60 SCHC and Mississippi Writers Guild members, $65 nonmembers; info and registration: 601-631-2997, info@southernculture.org.

ORAG January artist

West Monroe resident Donna McGee; paintings will be on display through Jan. 31; Ouachita River Art Gallery, 308 Trenton St., West Monroe; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; free; 318-322-2380.

Biedenharn Museum & Gardens Trip

Monroe museum taking reservations for May 15-22, 2009, trip to Chelsea Flower Show in London; Biedenharn Executive Director Ralph Calhoun, 318-387-5281; www.bmuseum.org.

Motor Trend International Auto Show

10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Jan. 25; Capital City Convention Center in Jackson; one of 24 shows across the nation; www.motortrendautoshow.com, 800-345-1487.

LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT

Memphis All Stars

Variety; Ameristar’s Bottleneck Blues Bar, 4116 Washington St.; Friday-Saturday; free; 601-638-1000.

Venus Mission

‘70s and ’80s variety; Ameristar’s Bottleneck Blues Bar, 4116 Washington St.; Jan. 30-31; free; 601-638-1000.

Terry Mike Jeffrey

Variety; Ameristar’s Casino Cabaret, 4116 Washington St.; Tuesday-Jan. 25; free; 601-638-1000.

Atomika

Variety; Ameristar’s Casino Cabaret, 4116 Washington St.; Jan. 27-Feb. 1, Feb. 3-8; free; 601-638-1000.