Baltimore

===Performing arts===
<!---International Theater Festival redirects to this section--->
[[File:Hippodrome Baltimore.JPG|thumb|The [[Hippodrome Theatre (Baltimore)|Hippodrome Theatre]]]]
Baltimore has four state-designated arts and entertainment districts: The Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts and Entertainment District, [[Station North Arts and Entertainment District]], [[Highlandtown Arts District, Baltimore, MD|Highlandtown Arts District]], and the Bromo Arts & Entertainment District.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://baltimore.org/what-to-do/explore-baltimores-arts-entertainment-districts/ |title=Explore Baltimore's Arts & Entertainment Districts
 |publisher=Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts |access-date=February 15, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/pennsylvania-avenue-is-now-a-state-designated-black-arts-and-entertainment-district/|title=Pennsylvania Avenue is now a state-designated black arts and entertainment district|date=July 2019 |publisher=Baltimore Fishbowl |access-date=February 15, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blackartsdistrict.org |title=Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts & Entertainment District, Inc.|publisher=Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts & Entertainment District, Inc. |access-date=February 15, 2023 }}</ref>

The Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts, a non-profit organization, produces events and arts programs as well as managing several facilities. It is the official Baltimore City Arts Council. BOPA coordinates Baltimore's major events, including New Year's Eve and July 4 celebrations at the Inner Harbor, [[Artscape (festival)|Artscape]], which is America's largest free arts festival, Baltimore Book Festival, Baltimore Farmers' Market & Bazaar, School 33 Art Center's Open Studio Tour, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://baltimore.org/what-to-do/explore-baltimores-arts-entertainment-districts/ |title=About Us |publisher=Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts |access-date=February 6, 2016 }}</ref>

The [[Baltimore Symphony Orchestra]] is an internationally renowned orchestra, founded in 1916 as a publicly funded municipal organization. Its most recent music director was [[Marin Alsop]], a protégé of [[Leonard Bernstein]]'s. [[Centerstage (theater)|Centerstage]] is the premier theater company in the city and a regionally well-respected group. The [[Lyric Opera House]] is the home of [[Lyric Opera Baltimore]], which operates there as part of the Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center. Shriver Hall Concert Series, founded in 1966, presents classical chamber music and recitals featuring nationally and internationally recognized artists.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 24, 2015 |title=Shriver Hall celebrates 50th season with old and new |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-shriver-concerts-50th-20151024-story.html |access-date=August 12, 2023 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |first=Tim |last=Smith}}</ref> 

[[The Baltimore Consort]] has been a leading early music ensemble for over twenty-five years. The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, home of the restored [[Thomas W. Lamb]]-designed [[Hippodrome Theatre (Baltimore)|Hippodrome Theatre]], has afforded Baltimore the opportunity to become a major regional player in the area of touring Broadway and other performing arts presentations. Renovating Baltimore's historic theatres has become widespread throughout the city. Renovated theatres include the [[Everyman Theatre, Baltimore|Everyman]], Centre, [[Senator Theatre|Senator]], and most recently [[Parkway Theatre (Baltimore)|Parkway]] Theatre. Other buildings have been reused. These include the former [[Mercantile Deposit and Trust (Baltimore, Maryland)|Mercantile Deposit and Trust]] Company bank building, which is now [[The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company]] Theater.

Baltimore has a wide array of professional (non-touring) and community theater groups. Aside from Center Stage, resident troupes in the city include The Vagabond Players, the oldest continuously operating community theater group in the country, [[Everyman Theatre, Baltimore|Everyman Theatre]], [[Single Carrot Theatre]], and Baltimore Theatre Festival. Community theaters in the city include Fells Point Community Theatre and the [[The Arena Players|Arena Players Inc.]], which is the nation's oldest continuously operating African American community theater.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.baltimore.org/africanamerican/visual_performingarts.htm | title=Baltimore's African American Heritage and Attractions Guide: Visual and Performing Arts | publisher=Visit Baltimore (affiliated with the Baltimore Convention & Tourism Board) | access-date=January 5, 2010 | archive-date=July 5, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705085205/http://www.baltimore.org/africanamerican/visual_performingarts.htm }}</ref> In 2009, the [[Baltimore Rock Opera Society]], an all-volunteer theatrical company, launched its first production.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tales of Brotopia: The Baltimore Rock Opera Society drops Gründlehämmer |author=Michael Byrne |url= http://www2.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=19049&p=1 |newspaper=Baltimore City Paper |date=September 30, 2009 |access-date=July 7, 2011}}</ref>

Baltimore is home to the [[Pride of Baltimore Chorus]], a three-time international silver medalist women's chorus, affiliated with [[Sweet Adelines International]]. The [[Maryland State Boychoir]] is located in the northeastern Baltimore neighborhood of Mayfield.

Baltimore is the home of non-profit [[chamber music]] organization Vivre Musicale. VM won a 2011–2012 award for Adventurous Programming from the [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers]] and [[Chamber Music America]].<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.chamber-music.org/pdf/FY12-cma-ascap-press.pdf |title=Presenters and Ensembles Honored for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music |publisher=Chamber Music America |date=December 13, 2011 |access-date=February 15, 2012}}</ref>

The [[Peabody Institute]], located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, is the oldest conservatory of music in the United States.<ref name="kennedy-center1">{{cite web |url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=10868&source_type=B |title=The Peabody Institute at the Johns Hopkins University – The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts |publisher=Kennedy-center.org |access-date=July 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511232127/http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=10868&source_type=B |archive-date=May 11, 2013 }}</ref> Established in 1857, it is one of the most prestigious in the world,<ref name="kennedy-center1" /> along with [[Juilliard School|Juilliard]], [[Eastman School of Music|Eastman]], and the [[Curtis Institute of Music|Curtis Institute]]. The [[Morgan State University]] Choir is also one of the nation's most prestigious university choral ensembles.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16802-2004Jul26.html |title=Morgan State Choir Director Nathan M. Carter Dies at 68 |last=Schudel |first=Matt |date=July 27, 2004 |access-date=January 22, 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |quote=led the Morgan State University Choir in performances all over the world while building it into one of the premier vocal groups in the nation }}</ref> The city is home to the [[Baltimore School for the Arts]], a public high school in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore. The institution is nationally recognized for its success in preparation for students entering music (vocal/instrumental), theatre (acting/theater production), dance, and visual arts.

In 1981, Baltimore hosted the first International Theater Festival, the first such festival in the country. Executive producer Al Kraizer staged 66 performances of nine shows by international [[theatre companies]], including from Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Israel.<ref>{{cite news |title=International Theater Festival |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=May 31, 1981 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/05/31/international-theater-festival/2116bb9f-4a07-4bb5-9395-f6bba14beeca/ |access-date=December 11, 2021}}</ref> The festival proved to be expensive to mount, and in 1982 the festival was hosted in Denver, called the World Theatre Festival,<ref>{{cite news |title=The Script Was in Serbo-Croatian |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=August 31, 1982 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/08/31/the-script-was-in-serbo-croatian/fe0796fb-3ba0-4a80-aca1-01c98c8c6eef/ |access-date=December 11, 2021}}</ref> at the [[Denver Center for Performing Arts]], after the city had asked Kraizer to organize it.<ref>{{cite news |title=Baltimore's World Theater Festival blooms anew in Denver |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 27, 1982 |first=William E. |last=Schmidt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/27/theater/baltimore-s-world-theater-festival-blooms-anew-in-denver.html |access-date=December 11, 2021}}</ref>

In June 1986, the 20th Theatre of Nations, sponsored by the [[International Theatre Institute]], was held in Baltimore, the first time it had been held in the U.S.<ref>{{cite news |title=World Theater Festival Set for Baltimore in June |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 20, 1986 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/20/theater/world-theater-festival-set-for-baltimore-in-june.html |access-date=December 11, 2021}}</ref>