CSM Celebrates the Return of Live Performing Arts: Concerts, Theater, Dance are all On Deck in 2022

CSM Celebrates the Return of Live Performing Arts: Concerts, Theater, Dance are all On Deck in 2022

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) is celebrating its return to live performing art events this spring with a bustling calendar that offers a number of theater, concerts, dance, and visual arts events for Southern Marylanders to enjoy in each county of the region.  

“We are excited to offer live fine arts events for the first time since March 20, 2020,” said Stephen Johnson, CSM associate dean for Liberal Arts and chair of Visual and Performing Arts. "The Department of Visual and Performing Arts has a great lineup of live play productions, music concerts, a dance performance, student recitals, and gallery events with carefully planned social distancing and other COVID protocols.”  

The gallery season kicked off with “Perception,” an exhibit by artist Gretchen Schermerhorn which began Jan 25 and will run through March 8 at the Tony Hungerford Memorial Gallery at the La Plata campus. Schermerhorn’s artworks examine the nature of facts and illustrate our relationship with the natural world as both competitive and destructive.   

The music season got underway with two recitals by new faculty member Brent Ferguson on Feb. 11 at the Brad and Linda Gottfried Theater in the Fine Arts Center on CSM’s La Plata Campus, and Feb. 13 at the Indian Head Black Box Theater. Ferguson is a seasoned instrumentalist, a composer for music in the concert hall and for video games, and a published scholar on music and multimedia.  

The theater department will present the play “Oddments” at the Brad and Linda Gottfried Theater March 4-6, and 11-13.  “Oddments” is the story of a group of young assault survivors who lean on each other in their healing journeys. Little do they know, their beloved therapist, who founded and leads the group, has motives that shroud his dark past. The play was written by CSM student Sarah Slack and CSM alumna Sydney Mitchell. The production is directed by the playwrights.  

The Ward Virts Concert Series returns to the Prince Frederick Campus Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. when the Phil Ravita Jazz Group kicks off the season with their stylish sounds. This series will continue throughout the spring with concerts by vocalist Antony Zwerdling on March 13, pianist Brian Ganz on April 10 and the Josh Espinoza Jazz Trio on May 16.  

At the Leonardtown campus, the Benny Morgan Concert Series presents Vocalist Jennifer Coope March 26 and Pianist Holly Roadfeldt April 23, both at 3 p.m.  

JazzFest will be held March 24-26 at the Brad and Linda Gottfried Theater. Notable others will include The Randy Runyon Project, led by CSM’s Jazz and Saxophone Instructor Randy Runyon; CSM’s Jazz Ensemble, Solid Brass; and guest artist Denis DiBlasiom, who is the executive director of the Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz at Rowan University.  

“JOY,” a dance performance presented by the CSM Dance Ensemble, dance classes and community partners, will be held May 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Brad and Linda Gottfried Theater. The performance will celebrate various aspects of "joy" in dealing with the current pressures of life.  

The visual arts season concludes with the annual Student Juried Art Exhibit, which will run from March 31- May 10 in the Hungerford Gallery.  

The busy spring of musical performances will close with a Barbershop Concert with CSM’s Barbershop Chorus, Southern Mix, April 30; the Honors Music Recital on May 6; the Chorale and Chamber Choir Concert on May 5; and the Latin Ensemble group Ritmo Caché May 7, all at the Brad and Linda Gottfried Theater.  

 For more information about these and other events at CSM, visit https://www.csmd.edu/calendar/index.html.