08-25-2024 Guidebook - Flipbook - Page 8
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Anne Arundel County performance art guide
The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, in association with the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks, present Pops in the Park at Downs Park. PAUL W. GILLESPIE/STAFF
By Bridget Byrne
performing arts season:
At a time when arts organizations
across the country are shuttering or
cutting back on programming, many
Anne Arundel County performing arts
organizations are thriving.
The region is home to several community theater companies, as well as youth
theaters. During warmer months, several
theater and dance groups perform
outdoors at historic venues.
Led by Music Director José-Luis Nova,
the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra is
a part-time, professional orchestra; its
members also play in other area ensembles. Add an opera company, a summer
chamber music festival and opportunities to hear concerts at the U.S. Naval
Academy and St. John’s College, and the
county punches well above its weight
for classical music. Here’s a sampling
of what’s onstage during the 2023-24
Annapolis Chamber Music Festival presents a concert series every August, featuring leading young classical performers
from the region performing at various
churches. chambermusicannapolis.org
Annapolis Opera bumps up to four
mainstage operas for its 52nd season in
Maryland’s capital. Up first at Maryland
Hall is Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber
of Seville” on Oct. 18 and 20, followed
by “Trouble in Tahiti,” Leonard Bernstein’s one-act opera about the lives of
an unhappy married couple, Jan. 17 and
19. “Little Red’s Most Unusual Day,” an
operatic version of the story of “Little
Red Riding Hood” based on scenes from
operas by J. Offenbach and G. Rossini,
is onstage Feb. 9. The mainstage season
closes in March with Giuseppe Verdi’s
“La Traviata.” The 37th annual Annapo-
lis Opera Vocal Competition takes place
April 13, and admission is free. All events
take place at Maryland Hall for the
Creative Arts, 801 Chase St.
annapolisopera.org
Annapolis Symphony opens its season
on the shores of the South River with its
annual Pops in the Park concerts, set for
11:30 a.m. Aug. 31 at Downs Park and 5:30
p.m., Sept. 1 at Quiet Waters Park. The
monthly Masterworks concerts begin
Oct. 4 and continue until early April 2025.
annapolissymphony.org
The Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre
offers outdoor musicals in a setting unlike
any other in the area, with high-quality,
non-equity productions of new and classic musicals. “Big Fish,” a musical based
on the novel by Daniel Wallace, tells the
story of Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman and runs Aug. 8 to Sept. 1 at at 143
Compromise St. in Annapolis.
summergarden.com
Ballet Theatre of Maryland is one of few
professional dance companies based in
the state. Most of its performances take
place at Maryland Hall, but the troupe
also melds movement with flowers and
colonial architecture at Ballet in the
Garden, Sept. 16 at Hammond Harwood
House. The indoor season opens Oct. 25
with “Napoli,” which follows a plucky
fisherman, Gennaro, as he endeavors to
marry his beloved Teresina. The company’s performances continue with “The
Nutcracker” in December, “Momentum”
in February and “Swan Lake” in April.
801 Chase St. in Annapolis.
balletmaryland.org
Bowie Community Theatre produces
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