Community Calendar

The Rotunda Welcomes Back Popular Family-Friendly Concert Series this May
3rd Annual Rotunda Rocks Begins Friday, May 2 and Runs Every Friday through Friday, October 3

Grab a blanket or dust off your favorite portable chair and head on over to Hampden this spring for the return of the popular family-friendly concert series, the 3rd Annual Rotunda Rocks. This FREE weekly concert series, presented by MCB Real Estate, features live music on the Plaza and a street festival atmosphere with delicious local food and drinks, fun games and local vendors and will take place Fridays, 6-9 p.m. beginning May 2 and running until October 3. (711 West 40th Street). Whether you like rock n ’roll, folk, bluegrass, Indie, Latin, Celtic or reggae music, there is something for everyone and the event is open to the public. Pets are welcome and a portion of proceeds from beverage sales benefits the Maryland SPCA. For more information, log onto Rotunda Rocks | The Rotunda (rotundabaltimore.com) or call 410-662-0104.

The opera Zorro! by composer Hector Armienta -- first showing on the East Coast!

Come for a story of love and heroic swordfighting, as the Californios struggle against the oppresive Old World Spanish monarchy! This new opera (premiered 2022) has been described as Puccini meets Mexico. Sung in English and Spanish, with English supertitles.. The opera had been shown with great success at Santa Barbara, San Jose, Arizona, and elsewhere in the Western USA; we are proud to be the first to bring it to the East Coast.

The work is set in the early 1800's, when there was great political upheaval in Spain and México. Inspired by true events in history and based on the pulp fiction character Zorro, a young man returns from Spain to the place of his birth - el pueblo de Los Ángeles. It is there, he will find his destiny and be reunited with a young mestiza he was once forbidden to love.

Tickets are available now, with reserved seating.$75, discount $70 (seniors, first responders, military, teachers, college faculty and staff, musicians, librarians), students $15, Tuesday students $10

Live fully-staged opera with world-class cast.See casting details at www.operainwilliamsburg.org
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The holidays already are here and your shopping isn’t finished? Or even started? What to give special friends who say they don’t need anything? Church Hill Theatre has an easy and thoughtful suggestion. Consider a 2026 Season Package—with 5 tickets for the price of 4. You get to choose the plays and the dates.

The coming 2026 season opens in March with a Tennessee Williams classic, The Glass Menagerie, and closes in December with A Christmas Carol. In between, there is a great choice of musicals, comedies and more. Consider Between the Lines, an April musical featuring our talented teens, the major June production of Chicago, or the September musical Something’s Afoot, a spoof of British mystery stories. And who could pass on the spooky November show, The Transylvanian Clockworks?

This special $100 package will make a memorable gift and support a cherished local institution. And if you have been very good all through the year, consider treating yourself to an entire season of outstanding shows. This package is available through the CHT office, at 410-556-6003 or online at churchhilltheatre.org.

Join us for the third annual Miracles in Motion 5K on September 26, 2026. This event is a 5K Run or 1-mile walk, followed by a Critter Crawl Kids Dash, all to benefit the Johns Hopkins Children's Center! Your registration fee includes a cotton t-shirt. Participants have the opportunity to fundraise for any area of the Children's Center where they feel a personal connection.

Use code: NEWYEAR at checkout for $5 off registration! Discount valid until May 30, 2026.

Between 1946 and 1953, Henri Matisse created 28 lithographic portraits for Poésies Antillaises (Antillean Poetry), a book of poems by John-Antoine Nau. Published posthumously in 1972, this rare volume remains one of Matisse’s least-known illustrated works.

Inspired by his brief 1930 visit to Martinique, Matisse translated Nau’s evocative poems—celebrating travel, music, and oceanic landscapes—into vibrant portraits. These reflect the artist’s collaborations with notable Caribbean and international models and are presented alongside works by two leading artists from Martinique and Guadeloupe, Germaine Casse and Serge Hélénon. This focus exhibition illuminates aspects of the transatlantic artistic circles active during the late French colonial period.

Between 1946 and 1953, Henri Matisse created 28 lithographic portraits for Poésies Antillaises (Antillean Poetry), a book of poems by John-Antoine Nau. Published posthumously in 1972, this rare volume remains one of Matisse’s least-known illustrated works.

Inspired by his brief 1930 visit to Martinique, Matisse translated Nau’s evocative poems—celebrating travel, music, and oceanic landscapes—into vibrant portraits. These reflect the artist’s collaborations with notable Caribbean and international models and are presented alongside works by two leading artists from Martinique and Guadeloupe, Germaine Casse and Serge Hélénon. This focus exhibition illuminates aspects of the transatlantic artistic circles active during the late French colonial period.

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) is a free Twelve Step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating, bulimia or other food-related issues. Weekly meetings every Monday from 7:00-8:30 pm at Christ Episcopal Church, 6800 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia. All are welcome.

For more information, see www.foodaddicts.org.