Singing sensation and Wyle soloist Kate Baldwin joins music director Jeffrey Silberschlag and the Chesapeake Orchestra for the grand finale of the St. Mary's College of Maryland 2010 River Concert Series on July 30. Baldwin, who received both a 2010 Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her performance in Broadway's Finian's Rainbow, will sing such favorites as "That Something Special" and "It Might as Well Be Spring." The concert also features Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5." You are welcome to come starting at 5 p.m. to picnic or visit one of the many local vendors; the concert starts at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.riverconcertseries.com or call 240-895-3038.

Kate Baldwin's Broadway performance has been earning rapturous reviews. She has a "cool, pure soprano" that provides "magic" throughout the show, said New York Times critic Charles Isherwood. A veteran of both stage and television, Baldwin has released a new album of jazz songs.

Silberschlag, also music director and conductor of the Italy&USA Alba Music Festival, has recorded with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Czech Radio Orchestra. His performances have been hailed by European critics as thrilling, compelling, and outstanding. 

The River Concert Series has become the cornerstone of growing arts activities at the college and throughout St. Mary's County. St. Mary's College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best public liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger's, and The Princeton Review. Founded in 1840 as Maryland's "monument school" commemorating the state's first capital, SMCM is the state's only public honors college.

More than 2,000 students attend the college, which has the highest four-year graduation rate for all Maryland public colleges and universities. The school's waterfront campus along the St. Mary's River in Southern Maryland is home to the 2010 National Intercollegiate Sailing Association Team champions.