Perform

Two weekend concerts celebrating Celtic heritage should help get Annapolis in the mood for St. Patrick's Day.Tomorrow, the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts will feature tenor John McDermott performing traditional Celtic ballads and contemporary pieces from his "Danny Boy Collection" and "Shamrocks and Heather" recordings. Guests are invited to a pre-concert reception with McDermott from 7 p.m. to 7: 45 p.m. The concert begins at 8 p.m.Tickets for the concert and the reception are available at the Maryland Hall ticket office.

Dance the night away without leaving your seat Saturday as the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts brings on "Celebrate Dance." Nearly 30 acts will flit across the stage in brief performances showing off tap, ballet and contemporary moves as well as ethnic dances from Scotland, Hawaii and the Philippines.Tickets are $5 for the 7: 30 p.m. event and are available at the door at Glen Burnie High School. Information: 410-799-7395.Band concertCombine fine music with a cheap date by visiting the Naval Academy on March 12 for the Naval Academy Band concert series.

"SO, IS SHE handling the graduation preparation well?" my sister asked my son, who is scheduled to graduate from Glen Burnie High June 2. "Do you think she can deal with the event in a mature, joyful manner?Peeved, I began to protest the assumption that I could not be trusted to act in an appropriate fashion, but my words were obliterated by the whimpering sound that escaped my throat instead."Tissue alert!" my son called out as I struggled to regain my composure."If you can't even handle hearing the word `graduation,' what do you plan on doing at the actual ceremony?

B.B. KingListen to the legendary B.B. King when he participates in "Waterside '98" Saturday at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons. During the past five decades, the King of Blues has released more than 50 albums, won seven Grammy Awards, was inducted into three halls of fame, received three lifetime achievement awards and has been Guitar Player's guitarist of the year for five consecutive years. Saturday's concert commemorates the grand opening of the Washington Gas Pavilion, an outdoor venue on the museum grounds.

Thirteen Orioles are eligible for free agency, and assistant general manager Kevin Malone says that the uncertainty surrounding those players might be affecting the club's performance.Scary?It could get even scarier if the Orioles don't make a quick recovery, and it appears they might be on their way now that they've won two straight games for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks.Still, players don't know if they'll be back. Malone and general manager Pat Gillick don't know if they'll be back. Yet they're all supposedly pulling toward one goal.

Most days, Ed Bulson is a federal bureaucrat at Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn, a systems analyst who shuffles papers and makes sure employers properly record W-2 earnings.But every so often, Bulson breaks away from the staid government mold, slips on a shaggy Elvis wig and gyrates to "Jailhouse Rock."All at taxpayer expense.Bulson leads the prosaically named SSA Chorus, a group of 24 employees who jitterbug, don poodle skirts and play air guitar throughout Baltimore in an offering of good will from Big Brother.

Kinetics Dance Theater, once a lively producer of contemporary dance in Howard County, has had its troubles in the past year. After founder-artistic director Dorothy Fried became ill, most of the dancers moved to the Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson and renamed themselves Surge Dance Company.Several interim directors later, a committee of concerned parents decided to keep Kinetics' school going and restart the performance group. The spring showcase on Saturday is an assertion of health for both.

Pop superstar Stevie Wonder will perform a free concert outside Ravens stadium on Saturday night, filling in for Aretha Franklin, who was originally scheduled for the event, but fell ill.Wonder will perform with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on the plaza and parking lot north of the new stadium, beginning at 8 p.m.The show will cap a day of events celebrating the official opening of the stadium on Sunday.The Ravens contacted a number of artists after Franklin dropped out, and were happy to find Wonder available on such short notice, said Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne.

Lines Contemporary Ballet of San Francisco breaks a lot of molds.It's a chamber-sized company of 12 dancers whose work devours the stage, thanks to a complement of exceptionally tall, long-legged ballerinas.And its cutting-edge repertory bypasses all the classics. Instead, it performs the work of its founder, award-winning choreographer Alonzo King, who filters music through a boundless imagination.For its performances that end a week's residency at Towson University, Lines will perform "Klang" (German for sound)

Tops in balletTo the balletomane, "Stars of..." usually signals a couple of big-name dancers and a small corps of women taking to the road in the off season to make a little money.But the "Stars of the Kirov Ballet," coming next week to perform at the Naval Academy, really are stars. They include the fragile Zhanna Ayupova, a definitive Giselle, and such top-ranked soloists as Yulia Makhalina, Veronika Ivanova and Margarita Kulik.Konstantin Zaklinsky and Vladimir Kim are among the men, and their leader is Farukh Ruzimatov, one of the world's great dancers.

Baltimore needs an opera company it can believe in now that the venerable Baltimore Opera Company has closed up shop. For 58 seasons, the company's singers and musicians performed what has been called "the most extravagant art" - a lavish collage of symphonic music, theater and dance - with great panache and brio, to the delight of enthusiastic and intensely loyal local audiences. The roster of stars who have performed under its auspices reads like a Who's Who of 20th-century musical theater: sopranos Birgit Nilsson, Renata Scotto and Beverly Sills; tenors Placido Domingo and Carlo Bergonzi; baritone Thomas Hampson and bass-baritone James Morris.

Did you hear the story about the puzzled patron who asked the restaurant owner why diners were applauding the canned music playing over the sound system? The songs sounded so good, the curious person didn't realize the selections were being performed live. She was further surprised to learn the musicians were all 17-year-old high school students. So goes the anecdote told by Trevor Ifill, one of three owners of Bistro Blanc in Glenelg, where the Naricyn String Quartet serenades customers every Sunday.

Themed sweaters and eggnog have run their course this holiday season. It's time to welcome in the new year. Break out your party hat and festive attire -- Baltimore has plenty of events for singles, couples and families who are getting a late start on planning their New Year's Eve celebrations. Here's a sampling: Bars, clubs and parties Enjoy an eclectic mix of live musical performances by Big in Japan, All Mighty Senators, Technicolour Brother, Lucid, DJ Impulse, Remix Renegades and Turnstyle Soundsystem.

Dave Koz and Friends: A Smooth Jazz Christmas makes its way to the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center on Monday. For this 10th anniversary tour, saxophonist Koz will perform tracks from his 2003 album Saxophonic, featuring the single "Honey-Dipped." Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jonathan Butler will perform his fusion of classical, gospel and jazz. The concert starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45-$68. The Hippodrome is at 12 N. Eutaw St. Call 410-547-7328 or go to ticketmaster.

Concert Butch Walker at Sonar Butch Walker & The Let's Go Out Tonites perform at Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $20. Information: call 410-327-8333 or go to sonarbaltimore.com.

Brett Lockley's latest adventure has all the makings of an updating of those old Busby Berkeley musicals in which someone bursts out, "Hey kids, let's put on a show!" Instead of the 19-year-old Mickey Rooney, a born performer and irrepressible force of nature, we have 16-year-old Brett Lockley, who is tackling a project that would tax the savvy and know-how of older teens. Embracing a Gift: A Showcase of Choreography by Brett Michael Lockley will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Towson University Center for the Arts, Osler Drive at Towsontown Boulevard.

The contract negotiations between the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its musicians have ended on the right note - with a two-year agreement that upholds the artistic quality and integrity of the orchestra while allowing management to live within its means and rebuild its fundraising network. The musicians made concessions - they will get no raise in the first year of the contract and have given up two weeks of pay as well. But in exchange, management retained a full-season schedule - a critical measure of the orchestra's national standing - and it agreed to restore positions and salary increases that musicians sacrificed in the past.

Concert Esthero to perform at Rams Head Tavern Singer Esthero, whose latest al bum is 2005's Wikked Lil' Grrrls, mixes vocals with trip-hop in songs about musical rev olutions, seduction and more. She performs at 10 tonight at Rams Head Tavern, 33 West St. in Annapolis. Tickets are $20 and are available through ram sheadtavern.com.

Concert Samples perform The Samples, a jazzy pop group celebrating 20 years together, perform tonight at Rams Head Tavern, 33 West St., Annapolis. The show is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18.50. Call 410-268-4545 or go to ramsheadtavern.com.

Trent Reznor and his Nine Inch Nails have clawed their way into the angst-ridden hearts of millions since the 1989 release of their first album, Down In It. Currently with a hefty 20 compilations under their belt, NIN will perform at MCI Center in Washington on Wednesday night. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7, with opening performances from Queens of the Stone Age and Death from Above 1979. MCI Center is at 601 F St. N.W. Tickets are $45 through ticketmaster.com or 410-547-SEAT.