Mission Valley Live opens its season Friday, Sept. 26, with a colorful helping of Gypsy jazz, Argentine tango and swing, courtesy of Christine Tassan et les Imposteures.

The Quebec artist and her band perform at 7 p.m. at Polson High School.

Originally trained in classical guitar, Tassan was captivated by Django Reinhardt’s unique style, dubbed Gypsy jazz. She’s known for her versatility, dynamism, sensitive playing, and “irresistible audacity.” The accomplished singer, composer, writer, director and producer has contributed to numerous musical projects in Quebec and internationally (including a performance at the Montana Folk Festival).

The eight-concert series continues with Pipeline Vocal Project, Alaska’s first professional vocal trio, Oct. 24 at the Ronan Performing Arts Center; Broadway in Love, featuring real-life Broadway couple Libby Servais and Stephan Stubbins, Nov. 14 in Ronan; the Hello Darlin’s, a Canadian folk/country/roots collective, Jan. 16 in Polson; Quarteto Nuevo, a foursome that merges western classical, eastern European folk, Latin and jazz, Feb. 6 in Ronan; The McDades, a Canadian-Celtic trio, March 20 in Polson; Wendy Woo’s Girl Crush, an all-female band from Colorado led by a powerhouse singer-songwriter and guitarist, April 24 in Polson; and the Callaway Chamber Players, a classical quintet that showcases the brilliance of winds and the piano, May 29 in Ronan.

While MVL president Brian Campbell says each concert boasts “great musicians performing a wide variety of genres,” he notes that attendees will have a second chance to see Quarteto Nuevo. The group performed at “the tail-end of the pandemic and consequently very few people got out to enjoy them.”

“We're hoping this time around they will get a bigger, well-merited audience,” Campbell said. “They are amazing!”

As to a personal favorite, Campbell is excited to see The McDades, who deliver “super high- energy, exciting Celtic with lots of rhythm that I love,” in the wake of St. Patrick’s Day.

Mission Valley Live has brought performing arts to the valley since 2015. The organization picked up the mantle started by Chas Cantlon and Folkshop Productions in 1994, which morphed into Big Productions in 2001.

Each concert in the series includes an educational component, made possible by grants from the Greater Polson Community Foundation, Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. and Lower Flathead Valley Community Foundation. Thanks to these outreach programs, students across the Mission Valley get the unique opportunity to hear and interact with professional musicians.

Campbell notes that ticket sales provide about 20% of the funding for the series, with the remainder coming from local sponsors. Historically the National Endowment for the Arts has contributed about 20%, but the recent move to defund the NEA could eliminate that piece of the funding pie.

“Consequently, we will be that much more dependent on our local community of business and personal sponsors to fill the gap,” Campbell said.

He also hopes to continue building audiences and ticket sales for the series.

“Since the complete shut down during the pandemic, our audience has been slowly coming back up to what used to be an average attendance of about 130 per concert,” he says. “We're pretty much at that level again, but have room for a lot more!”

For more information on tickets or the series, call 406-471-5849 or visit missionvalleylive.com.