North Bay fans of metal music will receive an early — and very heavy — Christmas gift next week, thanks to a partnership between Napa rocker Ryan Raes and the rock-climbing gymnasium Rockzilla.

Nimbus Arts in St. Helena hosts a holiday celebration Dec. 14, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. From 10 to noon, there are ornament making activities using glass, tin and stitched goodies. The cost is $25 per person, or $60 for the whole family. From noon to 3:30, Nimbus Artist Exhibit offers gifts for shopping along with holiday music from the Paulin Center for the Creative Arts Junior Orchestra and the Paulin Center Cello Choir led by Director John Bennett.  Nimbus is 3111 St. Helena Hwy. in St. Helena.

Napa Valley College presents two instrumental concerts in December beginning with the North Bay Wind Ensemble performance Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. The Napa Valley College Jazz Ensemble performs on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. in the Napa Valley College Theater. 

Following a decade of musicmaking that took him from retirement homes in the desert to tony clubs in the Big Apple, Spencer Day is on the verge of a major breakthrough.

A new show of works by the whimsical Calistoga artist Carlo Marchiori opens at the Napa Valley Museum  Friday. Titled “Gone with the Wine: Paintings, Sculptures and Ceramics Inspired by the Dionysian Culture of the Napa Valley,” it runs through Jan. 18.