THURSDAY APRIL 12

BIG AND GETTING BIGGER: New York Mayor (and Hopkins alum) Michael Bloomberg joins dedication ceremonies for a new hospital wing named after his mother, the Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center. Student dancers and musicians from the Peabody will perform at the event which includes the opening of the new Sheikh Zayed Tower, the new home of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute on Orleans Street. 5 p.m. East Baltimore Medical Campus.

LATIN JAZZ: Peabody Latin Jazz Ensemble, led by Tim Murphy, performs at 7:30 p.m. in Peabody’s East Hall. The program includes Evidence by Thelonius Monk, Dienda by Kenny Dirkland and Mambo for Horace by Eric Howard, At Last by Etta James and Freedom Jazz Dance by Jimmy Heath. Tickets $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, $5 for students with ID. Peabody Box Office 410-234-4800

OUT DAMNED SPOT! OUT, ERR NOT YOU SOPHIA: The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory’s performance of the Bard’s Macbeth will include a cameo appearance by Sophia, a formerly homeless boxer mix rescued by the Baltimore Humane Society. The Reisterstown-based shelter will provide cats or dogs, or both, for Shakespeare Factory performances the rest of this year. At The Great Hall Theater, St. Mary’s Outreach Center, 3900 Roland Avenue, Baltimore. 7:30 pm. $5 for students, teachers, artists.

BLOOMING IN BALTIMORE: “Art Blooms 2012: A Floral Fiesta” opens at The Walters Art Gallery with an opening night party where guests can view 30 floral interpretations of art works. There are also lectures, a luncheon, demonstrations and a floral photography workshop. Through Sunday April 15. Tickets available online. 410-547-9000 ext: 305.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 13

ANGRY MAN OF JAZZ:  Celebrate the 90th anniversary of Charlie Mingus’ birth with the Peabody Jazz Orchestra, performing Mingus’ Moanin’, Sue’s Changes, Boogie Stop Shuffle, Duke Ellington’s Sound of Loves and other works by the late legendary bassist and bandleader. Mingus died in 1979 in Mexico and his ashes were scattered in the Ganges. Bassist and composer Michael Formanek directs. 7:30 p.m. East Hall, $15 adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for students with ID. Peabody Box Office 410-234-4800.

SYNCOPATED SNOOZING: The Spring Mainstage Musical at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood campus presents “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a play about a guy who dozes off listening to a 78, and is transported to the 1928 musical comedy of the same title. The musical’s plot features a pampered Broadway starlet bent on matrimony, her producer determined to keep her single and other antic characters. The Swirnow Theater, Charles St. and 33rd St. Performances through Sunday. $10 general admission, $5 students.

BEASTIAL BEAUTY: MICA’s Rivals of the West student theater company performs playwright, director and screenwriter Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig, and reasons to be pretty. LaBute has been called the “reigning misanthrope” of the American theater. Fat Pig premiered in 2004, and features the romance between a young professional named Tom and his love for a generously proportioned librarian, Helen. LaBute’s Tony award-nominated reasons to be pretty also explores the mystery of what it means to be beautiful, or not. Produced by MICA faculty member Christopher Shipley. BBOX at The Gateway, 1601 West Mount Royal Avenue. 8 p.m. Final performance Sunday, April 15, 8 p.m. 410-225-2516
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SATURDAY, APRIL 14

SILK ROAD TEXTILES: The Baltimore Museum of Art has extended its show of textiles from Afghanistan and the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan through July 8. The exhibit “Embroidered Treasures: Textiles from Central Asia” includes wall hangings, prayer mats, a wedding canopy and other woven works from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from the lands of arid plains and sawtoothed mountains.

THE NEXT PAGE: Eri Yamamoto’s music has been described as eloquent, lyrical and refreshingly original. The pianist plays selections from her eighth album “The Next Page” (AUM Fidelity Label) at An Die Musik Live, sharing her moments of grace. 409 North Charles Street. 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets: $15/$10 students. 410-385-2638.
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SUNDAY, APRIL 15

MUSICAL AMERICANA: Celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812 with organist John Walker, a Peabody faculty artist, performing Concert Variations on The Star Spangled Banner by John Knowles Paine, The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa, Variations on America by Charles Ives, and other works. Walker will play the 3,000-pipe Holtkamp organ in Leith Symington Griswold Hall. Tickets $15 for adults, $10 seniors and $5 for students with ID.

BLUES AND ROOTS: Phil Wiggins, the harmonica virtuoso and singer-songwriter in the Piedmont blues tradition, performs at An Die Musik with noted D.C. blues guitarist Mark Puryear. Also performing is Alan MacEwen, a founding member of the award-winning American roots quartet the Grandsons, who have released seven full-length albums. 409 North Charles Street. 5 p.m. Tickets: $7 in advance, $9 at door. 410-385-2638
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GALLERY & ARTIST EVENTS

Maryland Art Place, 8 Market Place, Suite 100, May 3 – June 30.

POLIPOP AND PAINTINGS: MINA CHEON – Mina Cheon’s solo exhibition includes 14 digital paintings coming from her celebrated mid-career solo exhibit Polipop (Political Pop Art) at the Sundkok Art Museum in Seoul, Korea. The exhibit will also include her enormous hand-painted work, “15 Billion Years,” a celebration of popular science and the cosmos. Cheon calls it her masterpiece. The show is opening on May 3rd, with an Artist’s Talk at 6 p.m. and Reception from 7 – 9 p.m. 410-962-8565
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SCHOOL 33 Art Center, 1427 Light St., Through May 16

“WALK THE LINE” – Art by Mary Anne Arntzen, Christina Barrera, Nancy Bruce, Michelle Carollo, Jeanne Heifetz, Artemis Herber, Erika Kim Milenkovic, Jordi Williams (in the Main Gallery). RECENT WORK by Christian Parks, recent work. (In the Members’ Gallery.) A CAPTIVE BEHAVIOR by Becca Pad and Lauren Nikolaus (in the Project Space).
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SILO POINT LOBBY, 1200 Steuart Street, April 27 – May 25

THE CONSISTENCY OF MOTION: KELLY WALKER– Walker‘s abstract paintings are alive with color, texture, and movement. Her work reflects the techniques, textures, and patterns she employs as a professional decorative painter, which allows her the freedom to push the boundaries of the medium. Her artwork has been featured at numerous venues in and around Baltimore, including the Baltimore Museum of Art, Goucher College, James L. Pierce Framing Gallery, Patrick Sutton Home and Silo Point. Opening reception on May 12, 7-11 p.m.