Anne Arundel County has more than drummers drumming, pipers piping and ladies dancing for us this Christmas. The county also has opera singers, actors, jazz musicians and story tellers.
The bounty is not limited to the holiday season. Anne Arundel is fortunate to have an abundance of quality artists and performers to entertain the public throughout the year.
In Annapolis, which has been a cultural center since colonial times, the King of France Tavern features some of the best jazz musicians in the country.
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts provides classes, studios and galleries for local artists.
The Colonial Players and Summer Garden Theatre bring live theatrical performances.
And the U.S. Naval Academy and St. John's College lend their talented faculty and students to the city's cultural life.
But Anne Arundel's art is not confined to the state capital.
Anne Arundel Community College regularly provides a forum for a variety of artists. Ferndale is home to the Elkridge Sweet Adelines, a women's choral group which recently competed in an international championship. And the Sons of Severn, a barbershop chorus based in Glen Burnie, entertains throughout the area.
While art is alive in the county throughout the year, the holiday season highlights the area's talent. We are treated to the Annapolis Dinner Theatre's annual presentation of "The Christmas Carol," the Ballet Theatre of Annapolis' performances of the "Nutcracker," and performances by the Naval Academy Glee Club, the Annapolis Symphony, the Annapolis Opera, the Annapolis Youth Chorus and Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Newe Renaissance Voyces and the Annapolis Vocal Corps.
The King William Players of St. John's College perform, Anne Arundel Community College's Pascal Theater for the Performing Arts presents music and comedy, and galleries in Annapolis offer new exhibits.
The season's festivities will culminate in a New Year's Eve gala when First Night Annapolis presents the state's largest one-day performing arts event. Now in its fifth year of providing alcohol-free New Year's Eve entertainment, First Night will offer more than 260 performances by artists from across the country.
Perhaps the only thing missing will be a partridge in a pear tree.