By Connie Ballenger
Glen Mar’s Summer Concert Series will present one more free event in 2023, and it’s going to be lively. Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble will hit the Spirit Center stage on Friday, August 4, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm.
Footworks will celebrate American music, percussive dance, and their roots. With world-class musicians and dancers, this performance will showcase the intricate footwork and lively rhythms of Irish step dance, South African gumboot dance, Appalachian clogging, tap dance, and more.
According to the Maryland State Arts Council website, “Footworks has a reputation for exceptional performances, bringing the joy and energy of percussive dance and music to audiences worldwide. Since 1979, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble has delighted audiences of all ages and cultures around the world.”
Our Concert Series’ First Two 2023 Events
Bayside Big Band performed the first concert in our 2023 series outside the Early Learning Center entrance on May 19. While 350 people watched in chairs and on blankets, the band’s 17-piece orchestra and singer, Monica Gillam, performed well-known classics such as “Come Dance with Me” and “Big Spender.”
For the first time in the Summer Concert Series’ seven-year history, food trucks were part of the festivities. They were Greek on the Street, Kona Ice, and Breaking the Borders.
“It was fun to have somewhere to go for a good time,” commented Katie Elledge, who spent much of the hour-long concert dancing with her husband, Shawn. Katie was also pleased that the event was a safe place to take their two children.
“The band packed a lot of good music into an hour,” praised Lauri Mendenhall. Lauri particularly liked the singer.
An even larger musical group – the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra – performed in the Spirit Center on June 18. BSYO Artistic Director and Conductor Jonathan Rush exuded enthusiasm as he led the 77 middle- and high-school musicians and three adult BSYO staff members. The musicians enthralled the 400-strong audience with well-known pieces: Danse Negre by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, An American in Paris by George Gershwin, Mambo from West Side Story and Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 “From the New World” by Antonin Dvorak.
BSYO Interim Director of Education and Community Engagement Brian Prechtl wrote the last piece performed, Far and Away, to celebrate the BSYO’s upcoming 10-day tour. Many of the musicians’ parents were in the audience. Sam Hung, whose children, Helia and Henry, performed on the violin and viola respectively, said the musicians were well prepared, the atmosphere was hospitable, and the space was cozy. The performers sat just inches away from some of the audience.
Debbie Meyer had never attended a live symphony orchestra concert. “The talent blew me away,” raved Debbie. “And to think I heard it in my own church – how blessed are we?”
Funding
In 2023, support for these free concerts came from a $5,500 Howard County Arts Council grant, Harry H. Witzke’s Family Funeral Home sponsorship, and two generous contributors, “Friends of the Music Program at Glen Mar Church” and a donation made in memory of Karen Angle.
