Connecting with the Arts – September 2020

The Arts Council of Anne Arundel County is excited to share our new monthly blog series, “Connecting with the Arts”, featuring news and updates happening with art organizations in Anne Arundel County. This series is about highlighting and sharing with the community what local organizations have going on. Tune in the last Friday of each month to connect and learn more about the art organizations that are making an impact in our community.

Our first post of this series kicks off with Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts new partnership with a professional dance company. The Arundel Vocal Arts Society entices music lovers to their online music academy. Creating Communities shares the success of their virtual Arts Mentorship Academy and lastly the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra announces the exciting launch of their new virtual series, Symphony+.

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

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An Innovative Performance in Annapolis
MTPA is excited to announce a new partnership with professional dance company, Orange Grove Dance (OGD). OGD will be presenting their transformative site-specific choreography and lighting design this November at MTPA’s StageOne venue.

About the Performance: Performed on the MTPA Lawn and inspired by the reflective nature of the adjacent Annapolis National Cemetery, OGD will use custom built wireless lighting units to pivot performers and audiences alike into a surreal luminescent landscape that reveals the connection and power of the collective across difficult times and distance.

Tickets are on sale now at https://whatsuptix.com/.
Nov. 6 (6pm & 7:30pm)
Nov. 7 (6pm & 7:30pm)
Nov. 13 (6pm & 7:30pm)
Nov. 14 ( 6pm & 7:30pm)

*A free performance for students and veterans will also be available on Veterans Day! For more information, contact [email protected]

AVAS Academy – an online music education program
The Arundel Vocal Arts Society (AVAS), Anne Arundel County’s premier vocal chamber ensemble, is pleased to offer the following programs to all who are interested.

To access any of the listed programs, please contact us through our website arundelvocalarts.org or on social media @avaschorus and we will provide you with the sign on information.

Donations are always appreciated and can be made through our Facebook site.

Creating Communities Arts Mentorship Academy Online
Creating Communities hosted a highly-successful arts program over the summer, the Arts Mentorship Academy Online. Creating Communities serves children and families from low-income households in the City of Annapolis and throughout Anne Arundel County with arts and STEAM programs. Due to the pandemic, Creating Communities longstanding summer program at Maryland Hall was canceled. After much deliberation, the organization realized that our students and families still needed quality arts programming to overcome the social isolation and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic. At the end of June, our organization quickly mobilized and enrolled 70 students in the Arts Mentorship Academy Online. All of our mentors received professional development and received Zoom accounts while families picked-up arts and STEAM supplies for the program. Mentors met with students via Zoom twice per week and tracked progress via emails and call to families. Students created amazing art and poetry, a testament to their resilience during the pandemic, documented at the website www.amashowcase.com. Executive Director Rob Levit, Program Manager Steve Poole and Mentor Erica Jensen were given formal citations as HACA Heroes by the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis “for your generosity and continued commitment to our residents during a national pandemic.” Creating Communities continues to demonstrate that arts are essential services to families and children during difficult times.

We are proud to report some of our meaningful metrics for the program:
• 100% of families reported: The AMA Online is an excellent model for how students can and should be positively engaged for online learning.
• 84% of families reported: Creating Communities – the host and sponsor of the AMA Online – is an important partner for our family.
• 85% of families reported: The only program my child(ren) participated in this summer was the AMA Online.
• 77% of families reported: Creating Communities was the only nonprofit organization that consistently reached out and connected with our family during the pandemic.
• 92% of families reported: Communities – the host of the AMA Online – demonstrated care and concern for the well-being of my child(ren) and family during the pandemic and during the program.

Annapolis Symphony Orchestra Launches a New Virtual Series
When COVID-19 hit Maryland in March, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra Music Director José-Luis Novo was well into preparation for the 2020-21 Masterworks Series “Harmony in Nature.” In a matter of days, everything changed. “It was impossible to predict that we would find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic, affecting everyone to an extent we have never experienced before,” said Maestro Novo. The continuing pandemic fueled a decision to forego in-house audiences through December 2020 for a 2020-21 Virtual Series.

“To launch our new season, we had to reimagine the complete symphony experience,” says ASO Executive Director Edgar Herrera. This led to the development of Symphony+, a comprehensive virtual platform powered by Vimeo Over the Top (OTT) comprised of three unique components: ASO Live! (a live stream of all concerts), ASO RePlay (the ability to watch previously live concerts on demand), and ASO Chats (our pre-concert talks with Dr. Rachel Franklin). More information can be found at AnnapolisSymphony.org/VirtualSeries