March 19, 2024

CSM Connects Community With the Arts

CSM Arts Program

The College of Southern Maryland’s 2017-18 fine arts program includes visual art shows, theater productions for adults and children, dance performances, musical concerts, recitals, and readings by nationally known authors and poets.

Visual Arts

Members of the community are invited to immerse themselves in captivating art created by students and local and national artists.

“Painters Be Like” is an exhibit featuring works by Jason Stopa, Adam Lovitz, and Madeline Seely that will be displayed through Nov. 2. Based in the mid-Atlantic, these three artists are at different stages of their career.

Daniel Kaufmann’s “Expansion” will be featured Nov. 14-Dec. 7. Kaufmann will give a Gallery Talk for “Expansion” at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the La Plata Campus.

A group exhibition curated by assistant professor Lindsay Pichaske will be featured Feb. 5-March 1 at the La Plata Campus.

“Masters of the Universe,” featuring works by Chris Bishop, Bonner Sale, and CSM’s professor Andrew Wodzianski, will be showing from March 12-April 4. This will be followed by the Annual Juried Student Exhibition April 13-May 11.

These shows will be at the Tony Hungerford Memorial Art Gallery at the La Plata Campus, Fine Arts Center. The gallery is open 9 am to 9 pm Monday through Friday and 10 am to 6 pm Saturday. Artists and curators are invited to submit proposals for solo or group exhibitions for the 2018-19 gallery seasons. To view proposal requirements, visit the college’s website. Deadline for proposals is Oct. 30, 2017.

Theater

Main Stage’s second production this year will be “Ragtime,” a musical written by Terrence McNally, based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together. A stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician — united by their courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future — confront history’s timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair and what it means to live in America. Performances will be held at the La Plata Campus at 7:30 pm Nov. 2 and 9; 8 pm Nov. 2, 4 and 10; and 2 pm Nov. 11.

Cause Theatre will present “Lockdown.” This short drama by Douglas Craven depicts eight students in a dark classroom on an “official lockdown,” not knowing if it’s just a drill or an actual emergency. When a hysterical younger girl bolts from the room and the teacher follows, the remaining students are left alone to decide if it’s safer to stay or run. Due to mature content and heavy subject matter this production may not be suitable for all ages. Shows are 7:30 pm Feb. 1; 8 pm Feb. 2; and 2 pm Feb. 3.

Children’s Theatre will show “Amazing Grace” by Shay Youngblood, adapted from the book by Mary Hoffman. This play is about a little girl who loves acting out stories, those told and read to her by her grandmother as well as ones she reads on her own or makes up. Through any situation at school, Grace shows she can do anything she sets her mind to. Shows on the La Plata Campus will be held 7 pm Feb. 16; and 2 and 7 pm Feb 17.

Children’s Theatre will present “Around the World in 8 Plays” by Patrick Greene and Jason Pizzarello. This comedy takes the audience around the world to explore forgotten myths and unusual legends in eight, fast-paced and hilarious tales. Always quirky, and sometimes bizarre, these eight tales are filled with magic, mystery and morals. Shows on La Plata Campus will be held at 7 pm March 2; and 2 and 7 pm March 3.

Lastly, Cause Theatre will present “Journey’s End” by R.C. Sherriff. Set over the course of four days leading up to a massive German attack on the British trenches in 1917, this play charts the tension and claustrophobia experienced as the new recruit to the company, Lieutenant Raleigh, discovers that Captain Stanhope, his former childhood friend and hero, has changed almost beyond recognition. Due to mature subject matter this production may not be suitable for all ages.  Shows on the La Plata Campus will be at 7:30 pm March 15; 8 pm March 16; and 2 pm March 17.

Open auditions will be held at 6 pm Nov. 13 and 14 at the La Plata Campus Fine Arts Center Theatre for those 8 and older for “Lockdown,”  “Amazing Grace” and “Around the World in 8 Plays.” Actors are asked to prepare a one-minute monologue.

Megan Jolley will perform at 3 pm Nov. 12 at the Prince Frederick Campus.

Music

The academic year of music will include the Ward Virts Concert Series on the Prince Frederick Campus. Megan Jolley, viola, will perform at 3 pm Nov. 12; Tanya Langlois, mezzo-soprano, will perform at 3 pm Feb. 11; Michael Kannen on the cello at 3 pm March 11; Holly Roadfeldt, piano, will play at 3 pm April 8; and Anthony Zwerdling, baritone, will perform at 3 pm May 13.

The Benny C. Morgan Recital Series will continue this year at the Leonardtown Campus. This recital series, honoring the late music teacher, will feature performances Michael Langlois on the piano 3 pm Nov. 18; Anthony Zwerdling, baritone, at 3 pm Feb. 17; and the Calvert Chamber Players, 3 pm March 17.

Each semester, CSM’s private studio teachers recommend their most accomplished students for performance in the Music Student Honors Recitals. The recitals feature a diversity of musical styles, both instrumental and vocal. This year the recitals will take place at the La Plata Campus at 2:30 pm Dec. 14; and 2:30 pm May 3.

The Southern Maryland Concert Band will perform twice this year, at 2:30 pm Oct. 21 and at 2:30 pm May 12. CSM’s Latin Ensemble, Ritmo Caché, directed by Professor Dr. Stephen Johnson, will be in concert at 8 pm Dec. 9 on the La Plata Campus. The Solid Brass Jazz Ensemble Concert, under the direction of Randy Runyon, will perform at 8 pm Dec. 16 also at the La Plata Campus.

The 15th Annual Jazz Festival will be held April 6-7 this year. CSM will kick off the festival with an area public school Jazz Band Clinic on April 6, which will begin at 9 a.m. and run throughout the day. The festival will conclude with performances by the Jazz Ensemble at 8 pm April 6 and 8 pm April 7.

Several vocal ensembles are scheduled to perform at CSM this year. Southern Mix, under the direction of Paul Douglass, will hold a “Special Concert with the CSM Chorale and Chamber Choir” at 8 pm Dec.15. The men’s barbershop chorus will also offer a Barbershop Extravaganza at 4 pm April 14. Both of these musical events are happening on the La Plata Campus. CSM’s Chorale and Chamber Choir, directed by Siobhan O’Brien, will perform with the barbershop chorus, and can also be heard at the CSM Pops Concert. This event, featuring performances by Southern Mix Barbershop Chorus, Ritmo Caché Latin Ensemble, CSM Chorale and Chamber Choir, will be at 7 pm April 7 on the La Plata Campus.

Renaissance Festival

The Renaissance Festival will be celebrated at the La Plata Campus. Festivities commence on Friday, April 20, 2018, at 7 pm in the Fine Arts Center Theatre with “The Impostures of Scapin” by Molière. There will be more showings at 2 and 7 pm April 21; and 3 pm April 22. For more festival fun on the Fine Arts Center lawn, come by from 10 am until 4 pm April 21 and 11 am to 4 pm April 22.

Dance

There will be dance performances at the La Plata Campus at 7:30 pm Dec. 11 and 7:30 pm May 7. CSM’s Dance Ensemble performs a variety of pieces to appeal to all lovers of dance. Directed by Joanne Lunsford, the dance ensemble presents winter and spring performances, to feature traditional ballet alongside modern dance styles.

Literature

The Connections Literary Series includes readings each semester with established and emerging writers. There are also fall and spring publications featuring submissions from the Southern Maryland community.

Poet Tim Seibles will be at the Prince Frederick Campus on Nov. 10 at 7:30 pm. Seibles is poet laureate of Virginia, and he teaches at Old Dominion University. He authored several collections of poetry, including “Body Moves” (1988), “Hurdy-Gurdy” (1992), “Hammerlock” (1999), “Buffalo Head Solos” (2004), “Fast Animal” (2012), which won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and was nominated for a 2012 National Book Award, and “One Turn Around the Sun” (2016).

Poet Fleda Brown will be at the Prince Frederick Campus at 7:30 pm March 2. Brown is the former poet laureate of Delaware. Her work “Reunion” (University of Wisconsin Press) won the 2007 Felix Pollak Prize. She teaches in the Rainier Writing Workshop, a low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. “The Woods Are On Fire: New & Selected Poems” will be out from University of Nebraska Press this year.

Poet Nickole Brown will be at the La Plata Campus 7:30 pm April 6. Brown is the author of, “Sister,” a novel-in-poems, first published in 2007 by Red Hen Press. Her second book, a biography-in-poems called “Fanny Says,” came out from BOA Editions in 2015, and the audio book of that collection will be available in late 2017.

In addition to the Connection Readings, the Connections Literary Magazine, a regional literary journal, publishes twice a year. It features poems, stories, artwork and photography of Southern Maryland. Also included in each issue is material from visiting writers. Readings from contributors of this magazine will take place at 7:30 pm Dec. 1 and May 4 on the La Plata Campus in the Center for Business and Industry (BI) Building, Dr. John M. Sine Conference Room 103/104. The event is free. To be considered for the Fall 2017 issue, the submission deadline is Oct. 24, and the Spring Connections deadline is Dec.1. For submission guidelines, click here.

While many CSM arts events are free to attend, a season pass is available for those who want to enjoy all that CSM arts has to offer. For an investment of $100, a season ticket holder receives a ticket to all events being offered this season — a savings of up to 35 percent over the separately purchased price. For information on season tickets, contact the Box Office at [email protected] or call 301-934-7828.

For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit its Leader member page.

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