You could take in a Navy basketball game, check out a new art gallery show, or listen to an opera about the Vietnam War in Annapolis through Jan. 31.
Gallery opening
5-7 p.m. Friday
AND Creative Studio will host a reception for its first show featuring a selection of Annapolis area artists: Selin Balci, Moe Delataire, Cat Dolch, Neil Harpe, Jeff Huntington, Christine Laubauch, Joseph Karr, Tyler Mitchell and Scott Newcomb. Free, with individual works priced separately.
50 years since Vietnam
3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Annapolis Opera will mark the 50th year since the end of the Vietnam War with two performances of “Glory Denied,” an adaptation by Tom Cipullo of the book by Tom Philpott. The opera focuses on the true story of Col. Jim Thompson, who was held as a prisoner of war for nine years. It recounts Thompson’s ordeal in Southeast Asia and his reintegration into a society that had forgotten him.
Both performances at Maryland Hall will be paired with a talk by Cipullo and Philpott about the book and the opera, followed by a panel discussion led by Jan Scruggs of Annapolis, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. A portion of ticket sales will support Hospice of the Chesapeake’s Veterans Program. $28-$100 plus fees.
History of Crownsville
11 a.m. - noon Saturday
Journalist Antonia Hylton will discuss her new book “Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum” at the Anne Arundel County Public Library’s Discovery branch at Westfield Annnapolis Mall. The book focuses on the 93-year history of Crownsville State Hospital and its impact on black mental health care. Free, although copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Preservation cats
11 a.m. - noon Saturday
Annapolis author Charlie Mazurek will read his children’s book, “Shop Annapolis Cats,” at the Historic Annapolis Museum. The book is set in an 18th-century design shop where 10 cats and a mouse work to fund historic preservation projects in Annapolis. $7, free for children 7 and under.
Long and short of it
1 p.m. Saturday
Kids will get a chance to look at members of the Navy men’s basketball team when they take on Loyola at 1 p.m. in Alumni Hall. Activities include a face painter and balloon artist, plus autographs from the team after the game. $5-$10.
Both sides now
12-3 p.m. Sunday
Sixteen Annapolis singers will take part in “A Tribute to Joni Mitchell,” an all-ages matinee at Rams Head On Stage put on by the nonprofit AMFM and the Songbird Collective. Proceeds will benefit AMFM’s efforts to provide an emergency fund for Annapolis-area musicians unable to perform because of illness, injury or other circumstances. $25-$28, plus fees.
Bach+
7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Pianist Dan Tepfer returns to Live Arts Maryland’s studio at Westfield Annapolis to perform a program based on his new album, “Inventions/Reinventions,” in which he plays and improvises upon Johann Sebastian Bach’s Two-Part Inventions. Prices vary.