This week’s news includes: Katie Pumphrey’s art imitates life, “objectionable art” at the Smithsonian, a posthumous Bay Bridge cameo in ‘The Baltimorons,’ KenYatta Rogers journey to August Wilson, street art on West North Avenue, new state Arts & Entertainment districts announced, woodcarver Adiante Franszoon, Baltimore Clayworks’ new residents, Rapid Lemon Productions and Fells Point Corner Theatre announce new seasons, BSO shakes up September, Fall for Opera with Opera Baltimore, In Nature’s Studio exhibition comes to Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, and Kennedy Kreeger’s holiday festivities — with reporting from Baltimore Magazine, Baltimore Fishbowl, The Baltimore Banner, and other local and independent news sources.
Header Image: Katie Pumphrey’s upside-down pool floatie sculpture hanging over her dog, Adja. (Justin Tsucalas, Baltimore Magazine)
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Swimming Lessons: What Open-Water Swimming Has Taught Katie Pumphrey About Life
by Ron Cassie
Published August 15 in Baltimore Magazine
Excerpt: Ten years ago this month, Katie Pumphrey was sitting in an English pub, knocking back pints of Guinness, as one does on a Thursday afternoon on holiday when one of the locals overheard the bartender say that one of his patrons was going to swim the English Channel.
“Who? This big guy?” the Brit said, gesturing toward Pumphrey’s strapping, 6-foot-4, then-fiancé Joe Mahach. “He’s going to swim the Channel? That right?”
Mahach and Pumphrey’s friend Krista Mahler, an accomplished swimmer herself who had just arrived in England for support, turned and pointed to the 5-foot-5-1/2 Pumphrey, who looked like she could still be in college.
“Nope. I am,” Pumphrey said.
“Oh, she’s too small,” the British man responded, dismissively.
“No, it’s less resistance,” an older woman piped up from a few seats away, adding with encouragement, “Fucking slaughter it.”
Smithsonian artists and scholars respond to White House list of objectionable art
by Mandalit del Barco
Published August 24 in NPR News
Excerpt: The official White House newsletter has posted an article titled “President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian.” It calls out some of the institution’s artwork, exhibitions, programs and online articles that focus on race, slavery, immigration and sexuality. That includes works at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, The National Portrait Gallery, and The National Museum of the American Latino.
The list of objectionable content comes a week after White House officials sent a letter asking eight of the Smithsonian’s museums to submit their current and future plans for exhibitions, social media content and other material. The institution’s director, Lonnie Bunch, was told it had 120 days to comply for what the administration says will be a “comprehensive review” in order to bring the Smithsonian in line with Trump’s cultural directives ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
The administration has directed the museums to replace “divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions.”
Audiences will see our lost bridge in ‘The Baltimorons’
by Dan Rodricks
Published August 20 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Excerpt: The official poster for “The Baltimorons,” the indie romcom set in Baltimore during the holiday season, includes a faint, somewhat ghostly background image of the late Francis Scott Key Bridge. It’s not a gratuitous tribute, but a reference to something that actually appears in the much-buzzed-about movie.
“One of my favorite things that we did was a scene where we’re on a crabbing boat, putting around where the Key Bridge was,” says David Bonnett Jr., a Baltimore native who worked on the film’s production in December 2023, a few months before a massive container ship struck the bridge, causing its collapse. “It was our last night of filming, and we actually got the bridge in a shot. I don’t want to spoil anything for anybody because it’s a great moment on screen. But it’s pretty surreal to think about, because it was just a few months after that that we lost it. . . .”
Six members of a road crew died in the bridge’s collapse, early on March 26, 2024.
Smitten with theater at a young age; an August Wilson play will do that
by Dan Rodricks
Published August 27 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Excerpt: KenYatta Rogers remembers exactly where he was when the power of an August Wilson play set him on a path to a theatrical career that, so far, has seen him perform or direct eight of Wilson’s 10 acclaimed plays about African-American life in the 20th Century.
Rogers was seated with his father in the audience at Baltimore’s Center Stage, in December 1988, for a performance of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” Rogers was a teenager at the time, a student at Centennial High School in Howard County.
“I was blown away,” he says of Wilson’s haunting tale of a man who had been forced on a bogus charge to work on a Southern chain gang for seven years. Once freed, the man had come north, to Pittsburgh, in search of his wife. With him was their daughter, played in that 1988 production by Jada Pinkett — later Jada Pinkett Smith — a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts.
Street art mixes with upgrades to make West North Avenue safer
by Aliza Worthington
Published August 27 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Excerpt: Several groups are joining forces with the goal of making Baltimore streets safer and more attractive.
Local designers, engineers, neighbors, and the State of Maryland are teaming up to improve transit access and pedestrian safety at West North Avenue’s busy intersections with McCulloh Street and Druid Hill Avenue. Graham Projects, the West North Avenue Development Authority (WNADA), and Open Works Baltimore are collaborating on feedback, budgets, and public art designs to enhance the streetscape.
“Over the past several months our team and Open Works have completed a lot of rewarding work along North Avenue at Druid Hill and McCulloh,” said Graham Coreil-Allen, owner of Graham Projects. “These placemaking and public art upgrades improve pedestrian safety, increase bus accessibility, and beautify the block with a community-inspired street mural designed and installed in collaboration artist JaVon Townsend.”
Governor Moore Announces Tax-Related Incentives to Spur Economic Development Through Arts and Entertainment
Press Release :: August 26
Governor Wes Moore today announced the redesignation of Berlin, Chestertown, Denton, and Grantsville as Arts and Entertainment Districts, allowing for the continuation of tax incentives that encourage economic development through arts and tourism. In FY 2024, visitor spending in these districts contributed to a total economic output of $136 million generated by the 29 designated districts statewide.
“Small business development in our rural towns and cities is vital to winning the decade,” said Gov. Moore. “The A&E Districts program has a proven track record, showing that state and local investments in the arts not only improve the quality of life for Marylanders, but also lay a foundation for entrepreneurship to thrive.”
Administered by the Maryland State Arts Council, the Arts and Entertainment Districts program was created in 2001 to provide local governments interested in encouraging arts activity with tools to incentivize artists to live, create, and sell work in their towns. By operating within Arts and Entertainment districts, property owners may be eligible for property tax credits, artists may be eligible for income tax subtraction modifications, and local governments may be exempt from admissions and amusement taxes. The resulting arts activity supports economic development by attracting businesses and tourists to communities across the state.
To earn redesignation, districts must apply every ten years, demonstrating both progress toward economic development goals and a continued commitment to attracting and retaining arts activity. Today, Arts and Entertainment Districts can be found in 20 of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions, including cities and towns of all sizes.
“These communities show us how the arts can bring people together, support local businesses, and shape the sense of place that makes Maryland vibrant,” said Maryland State Arts Council Executive Director Steven Skerritt-Davis. “Redesignations are a chance to celebrate all that these districts have accomplished, and we look ahead to working alongside local leaders as they invest in the arts and see the benefits in their communities over the next decade.”
The Maryland State Arts Council within the Maryland Department of Commerce advances the arts by awarding grants to nonprofit organizations and individual artists. In addition to grantmaking, the Maryland State Arts Council also provides technical and advisory assistance statewide, ensuring every person has access to the transformative power of the arts. For more information about the Maryland State Arts Council, go to msac.org.
An 80-year-old woodworker from Suriname brings his art and history to Baltimore
by Tolu Talabi
Published August 21 in The Baltimore Banner
The woodworker pulled the brim of his hat low, grabbed an X-Acto knife, and began gently chipping and slicing thin layers of wood from a piece he had been working on for months. This one was a map of Africa, and in the center, there was a heart.
Adiante Franszoon, 80, opened his Waverly workshop in 2013, and little has changed since. He still etches ornate patterns into wood with his simple knife, working as if an audience were gathered to watch. It’s an art form traditional to his native Suriname.
His work has been displayed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and, currently, at the International African American Museum in South Carolina. Woodcarving is a centuries-old tradition in Franszoon’s family. His father, brothers and uncles all carved.
“My generation, everyone can carve,” he said.
Franszoon was raised in the Saamaka Maroon tribe, a community founded by his ancestors, who were formerly enslaved Africans in Suriname, a country in South America. Many rebelled and escaped into the Amazon rainforest. He said hand-carving became a way of life for them — and, later, for him, too.
Franszoon was 10 when he learned the skill of carving from his father, whose hands worked rapidly. He quickly caught up. His first creation was a 15-foot dugout canoe that carried him across the Suriname River, which wrapped around his village.
“When I want to go fishing, I take my own canoe,” Franszoon said. “I didn’t have to sit with my father in his canoe anymore. I could go ahead of him.”
Franszoon said he moved to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1968, and then to Baltimore in 1975 to study economics at the University of Baltimore.
In Franszoon’s childhood community, carving was a form of competition. A test of mastery. People carved everything from furniture to doorways to boats. Everyone’s style was unique, and neighbors would stand for hours studying a piece, trying to figure out how it was made, he said.
“Everyone lived in houses they had built themselves, using wood from trees felled by men with axes,” said Richard Price, an anthropologist who has extensively studied the Saamaka Maroons of Suriname. “The men carved in wood, making stools, peanut-grinding boards, laundry beaters, pestles. This art is widely considered among the greatest artistic achievements of people in the African diaspora.”
Gesturing to items around his workshop — a side table, large foldable chairs, earrings, a cutting board, picture frames and a wooden mirror — Franzoon said, “You see all this? I made them … Even when I’m frustrated, I carve.”
He sells his pieces on Etsy, ranging from $35 for a cutting board to $2,250 for a table with elaborate designs. He frequently attends craft shows, including in Fells Point and White Marsh.
Franszoon said he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He said it’s more of a go-with-the-flow approach — nothing fancy, letting ideas for intricate details emerge as he carves.
On a recent afternoon in his shop, Franszoon chipped at the wood, whistling and blowing away tiny pieces. He lost a finger while working in construction, but that hasn’t slowed his agile hands.
Soon, textured ridges that looked like toppling dominoes formed around the edge of the African map.
The president of Burkina Faso had inspired him to create the piece, he said, because of the leader’s utmost love and dedication for the country. He was weighing whether to keep the heart or cut it out with his jigsaw.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do here, so I leave it alone for the time being,” he said, pausing work on the heart and designing around it. “Eventually, I have to figure it out, but for now, I do what I know.”
“If I cannot get away with it, I flip it over to the backside and see what I will come up with. It’s tedious work,” he said.
Franszoon often becomes confused because the pattern he meticulously carves can turn into a maze.
“I won’t know where to carve anymore,” he said. “I sand it and start all over again.”
Wood, his canvas, is precious to him. He sources exotic woods, which he said can be expensive, from woodworking supply shops in Timonium and Pennsylvania.
He brings a hand planer to every wood shop, explaining that it’s used to smooth the surface so the wood’s true color shows. He works with wood in its natural state rather than staining it with artificial color.
“I like the work of Mother Nature,” Franszoon said. “Let the wood be itself.”
He usually opts for Mahogany, tropical cedar, Peruvian walnut, maple or teak. In many pieces, he combines different woods and joins them using wooden blocks, a method he said his ancestors used long before screws existed.
“It will never come apart,” he said.
When Franszoon isn’t designing based on his ideas, he works from his customers’ preferences and requests. Though these days, he said, customers are hard to come by. At the end of each piece, he applies a clear finishing coat or walnut oil mixed with sesame oil to bring out the wood’s rich color.
Franszoon said he can’t say how long it takes to create a piece because he doesn’t like to rush. He works until he’s satisfied and never begins a new project until finishing the current one.
Of his creations, his most purchased piece, and one that has been exhibited in museums, is “The Circle of Life.” Its geometric and circular patterns seem to have no end.
“My ancestors’ work hasn’t died yet, because I came around, and I learned it,” Franszoon said. He didn’t pass the craft to his children, so he may be the last carver in his family.
For now, he said, “I’m doing it in my own style. My ancestors pat me on my back, and say, ‘Go, boy.’”
This story was republished with permission from The Baltimore Banner. Visit www.thebaltimorebanner.com for more.
Baltimore Clayworks Welcomes New 2025–26 Resident Artists
Press Release :: August 25
Baltimore Clayworks is proud to announce the 2025–26 cohort of Resident Artists, continuing the legacy of fostering innovative ceramic art. We welcome Katherine Pon-Cooper, EMBARC Fellow; Brady Fanning, Lormina Salter Fellow; and Hannah Kautto, Long-term Resident Artist and look forward to supporting all of our artists in their creative journeys.
“Residency is at the heart of Baltimore Clayworks’ mission,” says Matt Hyleck, Executive Director of Baltimore Clayworks. “We are thrilled to welcome Katherine, Brady, and Hannah to our community and to continue supporting our Long-term Resident Artists as they expand their practices. We also honor our former resident artists for the incredible creativity and passion they’ve brought to our studios and wish them continued success on their creative journeys.”
As we look ahead to an exciting year, we also celebrate the contributions of Patrick Bell, Kashima Robinson, and Shea Kister, who will be cycling out of the residency program after an impactful tenure. Baltimore Clayworks extends its deepest gratitude for their artistry, dedication, and contributions to our community.
Continuing their residencies for another term are Kristyn Rohrer and Ali Saunders, both of whom have made significant contributions to the studios and programming and will remain Long-term Resident Artists for the 2025–26 season.
Joining the resident artist community this fall are three exceptionally talented artists we look forward to hosting in our studios:
Katherine Pon-Cooper, 2025–26 EMBARC Fellow
Brady Fanning, 2025-26 Lormina Salter Fellow
Hannah Kautto, 2025-26 Long-term Resident Artist
The 2025–26 Resident Artists will join Baltimore Clayworks September 1, 2025, bringing fresh perspectives, diverse practices, and vibrant energy to the studios and community programming.
Rapid Lemon Productions Announces its 2026 Season
Press Releaes :: August 27
Rapid Lemon Productions’ 2026 season will feature three full-scale productions, appearing in January, July, and August/September. The company is pleased to continue its successful residency at Strand Theater with a pair or world premiere plays and the regional premiere of an important new political work.
From East, Like the Sun
by Karen Li
World Premiere, January 9-25
How can we break the cycle that compels immigrants and their children to leave homes and families in search of security? From East, Like the Sun follows two generations in two families (and one 19th century ghost) searching for the mother lode – whether it’s gold, or a stable way of life.
This poignant and magical new play received a staged reading in 2024 by Sisters Freehold. Baltimore-based playwright Karen Li has had works produced locally by Center Stage, Strand Theater Company, Rapid Lemon Productions, and Submersive Productions. Directed by Jalice Ortiz-Corral.
Variations on Silence
Baltimore’s 22nd annual ten-minute play festival
World Premiere, July 10-26
Audiences at 2025’s critically acclaimed Variations on Night voted “Silence” to be next year’s theme. We’ll kick off the project with a community gathering – The Variations Party – on January 17th, and invite area writers of all experience levels to create new short plays. Readings and development of submissions will happen in Spring, and a final group of roughly twelve entries will be chosen for the July production. Directed by Janis Hannon.
Blood of the Lamb
by Arlene Hutton
Regional Premiere, August 28-September 13
Nessa is pregnant. She finds herself detained in a Texas airport with Val: a court-appointed attorney assigned to represent her fetus. With new laws in place Nessa will not be allowed to leave the state until she after she gives birth, even though both women know that the baby is deceased and Nessa’s
life is at risk. Can Val be persuaded to go against her convictions, risking her career to help Nessa escape?
This is a searing political and personal drama about life, death, and freedom in post-Roe America. A 2025 Drama Desk Award nominee for Outstanding Play, Blood of the Lamb won the Critics Circle Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Jalice Ortiz-Corral directs.
Performances will be at Strand Theater, 5426 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. Tickets are general admission, $25. Discounted “industry night” performances are $15. Full schedules and pricing are available at www.rapidlemon.com/tickets.
Established in 2012, Rapid Lemon Productions is a 501(c)3 nonprofit theater company whose mission is to develop and present new work that promotes representation of and participation by the community it serves. Curators of the Variations Project since 2015, the company has also presented world or
regional premieres of full length plays by established playwrights including Suzan-Lori Parks, Chisa Hutchinson, D.W. Gregory, Audrey Cefaly, Hope Villanueva, and Erlina Ortiz. The company is based in Baltimore, and has also produced as part of the DC Black Theatre Festival and the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. Information: www.rapidlemon.org.
Blood of the Lamb is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036.
Fells Point Corner Theatre Announces The 2025-2026 Season
Press Release :: August 22
Fells Point Corner Theatre (FPCT) is proud to announce their 2025/26 season, a series of thrilling, hilarious, and thoughtful plays, along with FPCT’s beloved community events, and our Salon Series that acts as an incubator for new local work. FPCT is proud that for 38 seasons we have served our community by bringing captivating, engaging, and diverse theatre to Baltimore in the form of acclaimed premiere works, dynamic local originals, and beloved audience favorites. We hope you’ll join us as we continue to push the boundaries of what live theatre in Baltimore can do!
2025/2026 Season: Main Stage Productions
Trouble In Mind by Alice Childress
November 7 – 30, 2025
A talented and experienced Black actress has been cast in Chaos in Belleville, an anti-lynching play set to open on Broadway. She’s paid her dues throughout the years, playing stereotypical supporting roles in second-rate shows, and is ready for her star turn. Chaos in Belleville, written by a white playwright, might not be quite as enlightened a piece as she’s been hoping for, but that doesn’t mean it won’t sell out. And selling out is the question at the heart of Alice Childress’s comedy-drama. A cast of multigenerational Black actors rehearse under the purview of a white director and stage manager, and as the rehearsal process unfolds, theatre conventions and racial politics collide, resulting in a surprisingly funny yet deeply piercing look at the entertainment industry. Alice Childress grew up during the Harlem Renaissance and in 1952 she became the first African American woman playwright to have her play, Gold Through The Trees, produced professionally in New York City. In 1955, Trouble in Mind was a critical and popular success off-Broadway at the Greenwich Mews Theatre, and it immediately drew interest from producers for a Broadway transfer. In an ironic twist echoing the tribulations of the characters in the play itself, the producers wanted changes to the script to make it more palatable to a commercial audience. Childress refused to compromise her artistic vision, and the play never opened on Broadway, ending her chances of also being the first African American woman playwright to have a work on Broadway. In 2021, she made her long-awaited Broadway debut when Roundabout Theatre Company produced Trouble in Mind at the American Airlines Theatre, receiving four Tony Award nominations. FPCT is proud to bring this thoughtful and funny piece to our stage this season.
Dance Nation by Claire Barron
Directed by Genevieve De Mahy
February 13 – March 8, 2026
Claire Barron’s Pulitzer Prize Finalist off-Broadway hit comes to FPCT to heat up the winter months the way only teen angst can! Somewhere in America, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. And if their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at Nationals in Tampa Bay. In this explosive play ambition, growing up, and finding our souls in the heat of it all, more is at stake than a first-place trophy. As the competition heats up, literal fangs come out, and the blood, sweat, and tears get very real in a drama about friendship, rivalry, and girls becoming women.
The New York Times declared playwright Clare Barron “insanely talented,” and described the experience of Dance Nation as possessing “the passionate ambivalence of early adolescence with such being-there sharpness and poignancy that you’re not sure whether to cringe, cry or roar with happiness.”The Washington Post said, “I have seen the future, and it is Dance Nation.” Join former Artistic Director of Single Carrot Theatre, Genevieve De Mahy as she crafts this electric show that is sure to get you fired up and ready for competition!
A Baltimore Premiere Production
Miss Holmes Returns by Christopher M. Walsh
Directed by Brad Norris<
April 24 – May 17, 2026
On the heels of the wildly successful run of FPCT’s Baltimore Premiere of Miss Holmes in 2024, we are thrilled to bring back original cast members, Sharon Maguire and Emma Grace Dunbar as the classic duo-with-a-twist, Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson! In this stunning sequel to the original Miss Holmes, which saw Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic characters reinvented as women in a Victorian-era England that was not ready for them to take on “men’s work,” Holmes and Watson have been playing the game for several years and have gained quite a reputation. So, when a nurse and activist findsherself on the run, wanted for murder, and threatened by sinister figures from the shadowy criminal underworld, she turns to Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson for help. Miss Holmes Returns explores feminist themes using the classic mystery characters, settings and tropes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to explore the added challenges and risks faced by these iconic characters if they were women. Director and FPCT Managing Director, Brad Norris, returns as well to build an even bigger and more thrilling world for Holmes and Watson to be mischievous and solve crimes in. Regarding his and the team’s enthusiasm for the show, Norris said, “We were just a couple weeks into rehearsal for the first one when Sharon and Emma found out that Chris (Walsh) had written a sequel. From then on, I don’t think a week went by without the question ‘we’re gonnado the sequel, right?’ So we’re all pretty excited to step back into this world and have another adventure.
2024/25 Season: Community Events
Monologue Slam VI
January 9, 2025
FPCT kicks the new year down the stairs, out the door and onto South Ann Street for the battle that’ll rattle your saddle! The throw down that’s all about clowning around! The main event with the kind of gear that’ll strike fear into William Shakespeare! It’s the Annual Monologue Slam! Join us for year six of the rowdiest one-night only, winner-takes-all, overly-hyphenated, Monologue Slam competition! FPCT invites all comers who think they have what it takes to make our team of judges laugh, cry, or shake in their boots to step into the ring and give us the best you’ve got in the hopes of winning cold hard cash and city-wide bragging rights!
FPCT Salon Series:
Throughout the Season
The FPCT Board of Directors curates a season long workshop series with the goal of developing and showcasing new local works. Growing out of our decades long commitment to the development of new work and support of local playwrights, The FPCT Salon Series is a nimble opportunity for vibrant and timely new pieces to see the stage, and get feedback from audiences, directors and performers. The series will take place throughout the season, with new projects announced as they are ready. Performances are free for audiences to attend.
On top of our performance offerings, FPCT’s Educational Programs operate throughout the season and offer a variety of theatre-related classes for all ages. These programs are announced on a rolling basis throughout the season as registration starts.
Additionally, FPCT believes in making our resources available to the theatre and artistic communities of Baltimore. To that end we continually open our building up for artistic and community rentals as our space is available. For more information on our rental rates and policies, visit www.fpct.org/rentals.
For tickets and additional information about these performances, please visit www.fpct.org or call (410) 878-0228. Flex passes and group discounts are available.
Fells Point Corner Theatre is housed in an 1850 firehouse located at 251 S. Ann Street in Upper Fells Point, the result of a merger between two community theaters in the greater Fells Point area: the Fells Point Theatre, and the Corner Theatre in 1987. Fells Point Corner Theatre is a fully nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization operating under the corporate name Bristol Players for the past 37 years.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s September Lineup Kicks Off New Season with a Beyoncé and Beethoven Mashup, Return to UMBC, and Season Opening Gala with Joshua Bell
Press Release :: August 26
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) launches its 2025–26 season this September with a bold mix of artistic celebrations, musical tributes, and community-centric performances. Highlights include an unexpected reimagining of Beyoncé’s hits alongside Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, a special Music for Maryland Tour stop at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) campus, and a season-opening Gala with superstar violinist Joshua Bell, all adding to the opening of Jonathon Heyward’s third season as BSO Music Director.
Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa
Dante Anzolini, conductor
Catherine Wethington, soprano
Sean Michael Plumb, baritone
Tribute Chorale
Following a triumphant Carnegie Hall debut, Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa arrives at the Music Center at Strathmore for one night only. The BSO joins internationally acclaimed artists in a deeply moving tribute featuring the D.C. premiere of Hymn for Mother Teresa by Albanian composer Genc Tukiçi and Lorenc Antoni, and works by Glass, Bernstein, Fauré, Missy Mazzoli, Bach, Anzolini, and more.
Saturday, September 6, 8:00 PM, Strathmore
Presented by EGC Productions
BSO Fusion: Beethoven x Beyoncé
Steve Hackman, conductor
An all-new symphonic fusion of Queen Bey and Ludwig van! Steve Hackman returns with a powerful lineup of Beyoncé’s chart-topping favorites including “Single Ladies,” “Cuff It,” “Halo,” “Texas Hold ’Em,” and more, blended into Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Three powerhouse soloists and the BSO bring this genre-bending performance to life.
Friday, September 12, 8:00 PM, Strathmore
Saturday, September 13, 8:00 PM, Meyerhoff
Supporting Sponsor: Hotel Revival
Music for Maryland: Baltimore County
Jonathon Heyward, conductor
Martha Long, flute
The BSO returns to the UMBC campus with a vibrant program led by Music Director Jonathon Heyward. The evening features Mayer’s dramatic Faust Overture, Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 performed by BSO Principal Flute Martha Long, and Haydn’s spirited “Military” Symphony.
Wednesday, September 17, 7:30 PM, UMBC Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall
A Robert E. Meyerhoff & Rheda Becker Community Performance
Season Opening Gala Celebration
Jonathon Heyward, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
Featuring BSO OrchKids and the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras
The BSO’s 2025–26 Season begins in style as Jonathon Heyward and violinist Joshua Bell share the stage for a thrilling evening of music and community. The program includes Farrenc’s Overture No. 1, Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3, Massenet’s Méditation from Thaïs, and vibrant selections from Bizet’s Carmen Suites. Expect special performances by the student musicians of BSO OrchKids and the BSYO.
Friday, September 19, 8:00 PM, Strathmore
Saturday, September 20, 8:00 PM, Meyerhoff
Heyward’s Triumphant Beethoven
Jonathon Heyward, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano
Stefan Jackiw, violin
Hayoung Choi, cello
Heyward officially launches the BSO’s classical season with two of Beethoven’s most stirring masterpieces and a contemporary response from composer Iman Habibi. Experience the full scope of the human spirit, from introspective beauty to celebratory triumph.
Friday, September 26, 8:00 PM, Meyerhoff
Saturday, September 27, 8:00 PM, Strathmore
Sunday, September 28, 3:00 PM, Meyerhoff
Tickets are available at BSOmusic.org. For complimentary press tickets, please contact the BSO Press Office.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall | 1212 Cathedral Street | Baltimore, MD 21201
The Music Center at Strathmore | 5301 Tuckerman Lane | North Bethesda, MD 20852
UMBC Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall | 1000 Hilltop Circle | Baltimore, MD 21250
About the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
For over a century, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has been recognized as one of America’s leading orchestras and one of Maryland’s most significant cultural institutions. The orchestra is internationally renowned and locally admired for its innovation, performances, recordings, and educational outreach initiatives, including OrchKids.
The BSO performs annually for more than 275,000 people throughout the State of Maryland. Since 1982, the BSO has performed at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, and since 2005, with the opening of The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, the BSO became the nation’s first orchestra performing its full season of classical and pops concerts in two metropolitan areas.
In July 2022, the BSO made history with the announcement that Jonathon Heyward would succeed Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder Marin Alsop as the Orchestra’s next Music Director. Maestro Heyward began his inaugural season in September 2023.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a proud member of the League of American Orchestras.
More information about the BSO can be found at BSOmusic.org.
Opera Baltimore Launches Fall Season with Citywide Outdoor Concerts and Community Sing-Along
Press Release :: August 25
Opera Baltimore kicks off its 2025–2026 season with the return of Fall for Opera, a free outdoor concert series bringing live opera to public spaces across Baltimore. This year’s lineup includes three performances in Mount Vernon, Patterson Park, and Hamilton-Lauraville, with a headline-making community sing-along planned for Thursday, September 4 at 7:00 PM in Mount Vernon Square (West).
The September 4th concert will close with a full public performance of Verdi’s “Va, pensiero” from Nabucco, sung by a resounding chorus of community participants alongside professional artists. Media are invited to cover this event, which will offer powerful visuals of Baltimoreans encircling the square in collective song.
“We believe that singing in public—together—is a form of civic practice. It cultivates attentiveness, trust, and emotional clarity. Everyone’s voice is singular, and when we join them, something powerful comes alive,” said Julia Cooke, President and General Director of Opera Baltimore. “These performances are our invitation to the city: come breathe with us, listen with us, and remember what it feels like to be part of something whole.”<
Additional performances will take place at Patterson Park Observatory on Friday, September 5 at 6:00 PM, and at The Lot on Harford Road in Hamilton-Lauraville on Saturday, September 6 at 5:00 PM. The September 6 event marks Opera Baltimore’s first-ever performance in this neighborhood and is a key part of its long-term commitment to arts equity across the city.
“These concerts are free, family-friendly, and open to all,” said Cooke. “Research tells us that singing in groups reduces loneliness, improves health, and builds social trust. That’s why we’re singing in the open air, across the city.”
Fall for Opera 2025–2026 Schedule:
Thursday, Sept 4 | 7:00–8:00 PM
Mount Vernon Square – West (699 Washington Place, 21201)
Featuring community sing-along of “Va, pensiero.” This performance is a part of the Mt. Vernon Place Conservancy Summer in the Squares Series.
Friday, Sept 5 | 6:00–7:00 PM
Patterson Park Observatory (27 S. Patterson Park Ave, 21231)
Presented in partnership with Friends of Patterson Park. Funded by the National Park Service and managed by the Baltimore National Heritage Area.
Saturday, Sept 6 | 5:00–6:00 PM
The Lot – Hamilton Lauraville Main Street (4500 Harford Rd, 21214)
Fall for Opera’s performance at The Lot celebrates a space transformed by care, vision, and hundreds of volunteer hours. It’s a neighborhood success story and one that we’re proud to sing in. Our performance at The Lot is supported by B’more… U Mentoring Scholarship.
WCMFA Announces Major Exhibition “In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting”
Press Release :: August 26
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts invites visitors to experience the beauty and breadth of the American landscape in In Nature’s Studio: Two Centuries of American Landscape Painting, on view from September 13, 2025 – January 4, 2026.
An early celebration of the upcoming semiquincentennial, the exhibition provides a rich introduction to American landscape painting, featuring key artists and movements, while providing a deeper understanding of the involvement of artists in the crafting of American identity. Nearly 90 paintings reveal how artists interpreted the land in ways that reflect both their times and their visions, beginning with the emergence of the first uniquely American artistic movement, the Hudson River School, the exhibition also contains examples of, Impressionism and Tonalism, approaches to painting that emerged later in the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, as well as modern trends in interpreting the landscape as the twentieth century progressed.
“This is a gorgeous exhibition that will have broad appeal, and we are excited to use it as a kick-off of our celebration of America’s 250th birthday.” said Sarah Hall, executive director of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. “Whether you are interested in American history, art history, environmentalism, or simply love soaking in the beauty of landscape painting, In Nature’s Studio checks all the boxes. The exhibition was formed through a collaboration with Reading Public Museum, whose traveling exhibition of 65 paintings, is joined in Hagerstown by our stellar American painting collection with many parallels to the works on loan from Reading. It makes for a dazzling, deep-dive into the art and artists that shape the way we picture America.”
In Nature’s Studio examines majestic and inspirational depictions of bucolic American vistas, intimate forest interiors, sweeping panoramic views of natural wonders, and dramatic images of the untamed land and sea. These works are joined by impressive scenes of Europe, the Near East, and South America by American artists. Highlights of the exhibition include Frederic Church’s breathtaking Cotopaxi (1862) along with two other Church works, on the eve of the celebration of his 200th birthday; George Bellows’ The Launching (1913); Childe Hassam’s Beach at East Hampton (1905), and a rare opportunity to see Thomas Cole’s tiny and dazzling study for The Voyage of Life: Childhood (from Washington County Museum of Fine Arts’ collection).
Turn-of-the-century shifts in style are seen in Childe Hassam’s work and Ralph Albert Blakelock’s dreamlike visions. George Bellows’ vibrant The Launching captures the drama of human labor at sea, while Andrew Wyeth’s offers an intimate and sobering view of the Maine coast. Modernist painters such as Arthur Bowen Davies, Benton Spruance, and John Fulton Folinsbee carry the story into abstraction and expressionism—reminding us that the inspiration of the landscape has never faded, only transformed.
“These works not only celebrate the beauty of the American landscape, they reveal the changing ways artists have understood and depicted it over two centuries,” said Linda Johnson, Agnita M. Stine Schreiber curator at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. “It’s a rare chance to see several of these masterworks, and to reflect on how our relationship to nature has evolved.”
In Nature’s Studio offers visitors a journey across time, place, and style—inviting them to enjoy the beauty of the American landscape while seeing it through fresh lenses. Admission is free, and all are welcome.
The Holidays Start Here: Kennedy Krieger’s Festival of Trees Returns with All Its Magic & A Brand-New Saturday Night Party
Press Release :: August 27
Our late fall calendars are about to get more merry and bright as Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Festival of Trees returns to the Maryland State Fairgrounds over Thanksgiving weekend and transforms the Cow Palace into a wonderland of festively decorated trees.
The festival, an annual favorite for tree designers and participants alike, takes place Nov. 28-30. Fans of the family-friendly event can find the latest information here.
What’s new this year? Tinsel on Tap is a new Saturday night party for adults ages 21 and older. The party starts at 7 p.m. and includes live entertainment, games, festive food and beverages, and lots of merry surprises! Look for more details about this special ticketed pop-up event on our website in the weeks to come.
Which much-loved traditions return? Throughout the weekend, Festival-goers can expect to see more than 800 decorated trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses designed by area businesses, community groups, schools and individuals. They are truly a forest of creative expression, often referencing trends from the current year, like popular songs, movies or personalities. Attendees can expect to see lots of lights, handcrafted ornaments, and elaborate tree skirts as well.
Santa will be on hand throughout the weekend to discuss holiday wish lists and pose for photos. Amusement rides, games and crafts promise to keep young elves engaged, and there is live entertainment throughout the three-day event.
What else? Back by popular demand: Saturday, Nov. 29 is Healthcare and Education Heroes Day, and those who work in healthcare or education receive a 50 percent discount on one ticket when they show a valid work ID. The Institute is delighted to once again honor these heroes.
On Sunday, Nov. 30, families can take advantage of reduced crowds and unlimited amusement rides for kids at a special ticketed event, Reindeer Rise & Shine, 8-10 a.m.
Finally, holiday shoppers will have some fun, too. This year’s vendor village will feature more than 100 artisans, crafts people and small business owners.
Since 1990, more than 1.1 million people have enjoyed Festival of Trees, a fundraiser for Kennedy Krieger, and the event has raised more than $28 million for the Institute; it is one of the largest holiday extravaganzas on the East Coast.
