Connecting with the Arts – January 2021

Welcome back to the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County’s monthly blog series, Connecting with the Arts,  where we feature news and updates from the arts community in Anne Arundel County. Tune in the last Friday of each month to connect and learn more about the arts organizations that are making an impact locally.

As we navigate this still-new year, we hope the arts are a source of hope, joy, and inspiration. This month’s blog post features an array of great happenings around the county, from a virtual cabaret to a lesson on the history of sugar. There is no shortage of art programs and events to look forward to this winter!

First, join Annapolis Shakespeare Company for their new cabaret show, available virtually through February 25th. Children’s Theatre of Annapolis has several workshop opportunities for children and teens looking to learn the basics of theatre. The Londontowne Symphony Orchestra is working hard to bring you their first concert, now postponed until March. The Bay Winds Community Band announces their new Conductor and Assistant Conductor along with the release of their recently recorded and unique holiday virtual performance! Lastly, the Hammond-Harwood House leaves us with several programs to look forward to as well as a new project that involves the reupholstering of a c. 1770 Annapolis sofa.

You can connect and learn more about these organizations by clicking their logos below. We hope you enjoy!

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Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s January Cabaret!
ASC’s January cabaret Be My Baby: Best of the Girl Groups featuring the greatest hits of the Andrews Sisters, the McGuire Sisters, the Supremes, the Ronettes, the Shangri Las, and the Shirelles among others!  Be one of the first to experience our newly renovated cabaret space.

Be My Baby will be available virtually on-demand NOW through February 25th! To get tickets, CLICK HERE

Children’s Theatre of Annapolis workshops for ages 7-18!
Children’s Theatre of Annapolis has theatre production workshops for ages 7-18 starting in February & March! These programs give each participant the opportunity to learn the basics of theatre; expand their imagination; work on character development, scene study, and memorization; develop performance techniques; and much more. All workshops are aimed at specific age and skill groups. Every participant is guaranteed a role. We encourage students with all levels of experience to attend. These workshops conclude with a final performance.

For more information about CTA’s upcoming workshops, please visit ChildrensTheatreofAnnapolis.org. Questions? Email [email protected].

The Londontowne Symphony Orchestra is trying to come back!
We have had to postpone our first concert from January 22 to March 26 in order to reduce the virus risks to our musicians. We regret it, but it is the wisest thing to do. It will still be too early for a live audience, so we will be streaming the concert live over Facebook and YouTube from the Riva Trace Baptist Church in Davidsonville. Login instructions will be made available when they have been determined.

The concert will be the same. It will begin with Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major with William Bloomquist, piano, Paul Bagley, violin, Kristin Bakkegard, violin, Dorothy Couper, viola, and Diana Curtis, cello. With no intermission, the concert will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade in C major for String Orchestra under the direction of Anna Binneweg, the Music Director/Conductor of the LSO.

The Bay Winds Community Band announces their new Conductor and Assistant Conductor!
The Bay Winds Community Band, based in Annapolis, announced the selection of Joseph Nalley as it’s new Conductor and Anne Dickinson as it’s Assistant Conductor.

The band voted remotely during the summer on the selection after an audition period in the spring which occurred prior to the Covid-19 shut-down of the band’s rehearsals and public performances. The Band presently remains on hiatus and plans to resume rehearsals at Annapolis High School when the school system allows. Public performances are also in flux at the present time. Bay Winds under Mr. Nalley’s leadership is currently recording a “virtual appearance” project for the Holidays in keeping with “social distance” guidelines. CLICK HERE to watch the virtual performance of Stars and Stripes for Christmas.

Our followers should stay tuned to the Bay Winds Facebook and our web-page for release dates and future projects in the New Year.

Hammond-Harwood House new programs to look forward to this year!

To register and learn more about these programs, visit hammondharwoodhouse.org

Message In A Bottle
As we start out the New Year, the Hammond-Harwood House Museum invites you to write a virtual message in a bottle using our Contact Us page at hammondharwoodhouse.org
The messages will be printed and stored in our archives for future generations to read and get a snapshot of what the museum community was doing during 2020.
Participants will receive a special New Year’s Eve e-mail from the museum at the end of 2021.

Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth: A History of Sugar and Dessert

Thursday, February 11 at 7 PM. Free, online lecture on Zoom by Joyce M. White, Food Historian and Hammond-Harwood House Trustee
Learn about the history of cane sugar in its many forms from Muscovado to Lisbon to Loaf.  An interactive presentation will review how sugar has evolved over time from its introduction to Medieval England up until the Victorian days.

Learn the many ways sugar has been incorporated into meals for medicinal, culinary, and decorative purposes. Registration is required.

Voices of the Enslaved
Thursday, February 18 at 2 PM Free, online presentation on Zoom by Barbara Goyette, Hammond-Harwood House Executive Director.
Through 19th and early 20th century testimonies, memoirs, and interviews with those formerly enslaved, we can begin to learn about life under slavery. Each source of slave narratives has a history of its own to consider in interpreting these stories.

Registration is required.

Two Great Houses Outdoor Architecture Tour
Saturday, February 20 at 11 AM.
Cost: $20 per person
Tour will be held outside, with limited participation and socially distanced with masks. Registration is required.

The Hammond-Harwood House Museum and Chase Home invite guests to an hour long tour that explores the two architectural treasures in downtown Annapolis. The tour will cover architectural details and the longstanding social history that connects these two great houses on Maryland Avenue.

New Acquisition: Annapolis sofa, c. 1770
Former Hammond-Harwood House trustee Bob Shannahan of Easton, MD, has donated a c. 1770 Annapolis sofa. It was in the Chase Home around the late 1920’s, when it was acquired by the Love family of Ruxton in Baltimore. It was then sold out of the Love family via a dealer and purchased by Bob Shannahan in the early 2000’s. This piece will be our only sofa with ties to Annapolis. It was delivered January 13, and has been placed in the breakfast room. The sofa is in need of reupholstering, as seen in the picture. The first course of action is to strip it to the frame, examine it, and then have it reupholstered. If you would like to donate towards this project, please contact Rachel Lovett at 410-263-4683 ext. 12