Chamber Project St. Louis kicks off the new year with DANCE BREAK: Fancy Footwork, an energetic, rhythm-driven chamber music program inspired by dance traditions from around the world. The concert takes place Sunday, January 18 in the Club Room (upstairs) at the Schlafly Tap Room, offering audiences an intimate, upbeat musical experience paired with great local beer and good company. A second performance featuring the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Dancers will take place at the university’s Dunham Hall on Wednesday, January 28th.
Recently, Kenny Scharf — one of the luminaries of New York’s 1980s East Village art explosion and a close contemporary of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol — touched down in Midtown to paint a new mural for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. For a few electrifying days, the alleyways behind Washington Avenue were transformed into something resembling a 1980s downtown NYC studio. Scharf called the mural “Kranzbergville For EVA” — forever, infinite, ever-expanding. Come with us as he creates this enduring work of art which will be seen forever on an edifice in St. Louis.
As 2026 dawns, 5,280 circular Waterford crystal discs will fall from the sky on the ball in Times Square. Like fine Waterford crystal, 2026 rings in the fourteenth year that Sophisticated Living St. Louis has brought you the finest. Get a sampling here of what 2026 has to offer in the pages of the January/February issue of St. Louis’ leading luxury lifestyle magazine.
Say goodbye to 2025 and hello to a brand new year with this selection of family-friendly and grown-up special events throughout St. Louis. From West County to the Downtown St. Louis folks will be ringing in 2026 in style. Whether you’ve got little ones who want to celebrate at 12pm or you want to party till 12am, we’ve curated a list of special ways to do it. Happy New Year, everyone. May it be the best year yet.
The age-old question is here next week — What is there to do in St. Louis between Christmas and New Year’s?? What is there to do for winter break?? We’ve pulled together a mix of can’t-miss St. Louis activities perfect for families, students home from school, and anyone looking for indoor activities to escape the cold. Here’s a list of fun things to do for Winter Break 2025.
2026 is on the horizon, and many high-end St. Louis destinations will help you ring in the new year in style. From all-inclusive events, to sit-down prix fixe menu experiences, celebrate New Year’s Eve & Day with Champagne toasts, raw bars, prix fixe menus, and more at places ranging from the glamorous Ritz Carlton’s Lobby Lounge, to None of the Above, the speakeasy-style cocktail lounge located underground at City Foundry STL.
MR. BLUE SKY plays tribute to the Electric Light Orchestra, one of the greatest bands of the 1970’s and ‘80’s on Saturday, December 13th. They create all the majestic splendor that is the music of ELO, as the band was known. With a Focus on the band’s hits from the 70s, 80s and latest records, and mixing in selective deep cuts, Mr. Blue Sky produces the ultimate ELO experience. Whether you knew them back then, or want to discover the band that sold over 50-million albums worldwide, this concert will be a gift to your senses for the holidays.
More than 100 guests attended a special fundraiser on the Opening Night of Broadway's sensational hit "The Notebook, The Musical" at the Fabulous Fox. The event raised more than $30,000 benefiting three nonprofits - Memory Home Care Solutions, The Caregiver Club and Alzheimer's Association of Greater Missouri - to help raise awareness and vital funding to find a cure for dementia. See highlights from the evening here.
Celebrated, Grammy nominated legend Marilyn Maye comes to St. Louis will perform a musical tribute to Johnny Carson, the King of Late Night, on Wednesday November 19th, 7 pm at The Sheldon Concert Hall in the Grand Arts Center in St. Louis. Marilyn Maye was called a "Super-Singer" by Johnny Carson himself and appeared on The Tonight Show 76 times - a show record for singers! 2025 marks the centennial of Carson’s birth and Marilyn returns to St. Louis for a don’t-miss-one-night-only musical tribute to her years singing for Johnny.
Soon we will be singing Auld Lang Syne as we say farewell to 2025. Throughout 2025, we’ve shared with you the good life, both near and far. We are the region’s leading luxury lifestyle omnichannel publication. From print, to digital, to social media, we make sure that you have your finger on the pulse. Let’s take a look back at 2025 through the lens of our issues of the last 10 months, and say hello to our newly-minted November/December issue, which will be available soon.
The Gateway Outdoor Summit kicks off the Gateway Outdoor Expo + Summit 2025, a weekend celebration designed to inspire, educate, and unite people of all backgrounds in outdoor recreation. While the Summit focuses on industry stakeholders and leaders, the Expo will open to the public November 15th and 16th with 165+ exhibitors, hands-on activities, live entertainment, and presentations in the Basecamp area on the show floor.
Brad Walls is a New York-based visual artist originally from Sydney, Australia. He is known for his unique aerial perspective, transforming movement and everyday environments into minimalist works that emphasize symmetry and negative space. His subjects, including synchronized swimmers and ballet dancers, become studies in geometry and rhythm. The final product of his unique perspective is visually arresting, as the image transforms familiar scenes into something unexpected.
Can you name a place that you can go for Halloween whether you’re a soccer mom or a school-aged child? City Museum, that’s where. Yes, adults can indulge at the Vampire Bar, Covens & Cauldrons Witches Bar or at Beatnik’s Bob, while the kids enjoy all manner of fun in the spooktacular playground. Halloween season at the museum runs October 1 -26.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, devastation swept through the City of St. Louis. Alarms were silent, although the deafening sound of the catastrophic tornado roared. The ear-piercing winds shattered lives and buildings. Yet, out of the rubble, voices still ring out. This October, the Union Avenue Opera will “lift every voice and sing.” Voices of Union Avenue Opera will rise in performances of the first-ever “One-Act Festival.” The festival will be held in an alternate part of the church that was spared within the historic Union Avenue Christian Church. Get tickets.
Eight members of the St. Louis Circus Harmony troupe just returned from Stuttgart Germany after soaring high when reuniting with their partners there, Circus Circuli! This marks the fourth collaboration between the two youth circuses from the sister cities of St. Louis, Missouri and Stuttgart, Germany.
Just in time for fall, Pirates & Pumpkins makes landfall at The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station. International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19 marks the opening this special event. The pirate invasion will continue through November 2. The Aquarium is decorated with pirate-themed scenes, including a ghost ship with smoking, booming cannons. Pumpkin carving demonstrations and trick-or-treating happen as it gets closer to Halloween.
Contrary to popular belief, Labor Day does not signal the end of summer, rather the annual ritual on Art Hill, the SLSO free concert is summer’s swan song. The celebratory event signals the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s season opener. 2025 rings in the Gateway City’s milestone 2025/26 146th season on Wednesday, September 17th. The festivities begin at 7pm. Fireworks will emblazon the skies over Forest Park’s Grand Basin to top of the night.
Since 2017, OxFest has donated more than $322,000 to local charities that help and support children. Providing scholarships for local high school students; grants for teachers to improve their classrooms; and helping impoverished rural families with children receive the healthcare they need, the OxFest Music Festival is expected to add thousands of dollars to the causes. Held this year on the Washington Fairgrounds in Washington, MO on Saturday, September 20th, gates open at 11:30am. Music begins at 12pm.
One hundred years after first opening its doors, the building known as Powell Symphony Hall has a new $140 million, 64,000 square foot complex and it has a new name, the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, named after the late founder of Enterprise Holdings. With opening weekend concerts from September 26-28, the public will get to see what these millions of dollars have wrought. The result is simply spectacular and it consists of two very distinct parts: Powell Hall and the new Snøhetta-designed addition. Combined you have the Jack C. Taylor Music Center. Details here.
Fall is in the air. Can’t you feel it? Yes, the calendar still says August, but Mother Nature says otherwise. In true St. Louis fashion, she flipped the script on us again and the weather went from a hot and humid 97 one week to 72 degrees the next, with not a humid in sight. And the nights. Once the moon makes his nightly debut during this faux fall, the temps dip into the 50’s. Sugar plum sparks dance above bonfires. Hoodies and sweaters are donned. Suddenly, it feels like fall is here. And not a moment too soon. Because Sophisticated Living’s September/October issue is here.
