Moving between acrylics, pastel, collage, paper mache and most recently watercolor, Reese likes to produce art in a variety of mediums. She feels that painting may best show her devotion to bold brilliant colors, curvy lines and circles. Reese likes to use clean defined lines that twist and curve, and she tries to keep her colors as intense and varied as possible. "Some of my best work has come from my darkest moments," said Reese. "Yet my work is not so much how I see things but more like a dream of how I wish it all appeared. Call it wishful thinking. Art has been my comfort, my utter joy, my friend and nemesis, my way to escape reality, and my obsession. It guides my journey which is to learn more, practice more, teach more, make more, and continually get better.

Admission is free to The Gallery in the Milburn Stone Theatre, located at One Seahawk Drive. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or by special appointment. It is also open during events in the Milburn Stone Theatre. For more information, call 410-287-1023. Tickets for the Summer Concert Series, which are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors, and $10 for children 12 and younger, can be purchased by phone at 410-287-1037, at the Milburn Stone Theatre box office, or online at www.milburnstone.org. Tickets can also be purchased for all four concerts in the series for the price of three shows at $45 for adults, $36 for students and seniors, and $30 for children 12 and younger. The box office, located at One Seahawk Drive at Cecil College in North East, Md., is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Sise, a Peabody Conservatory of Music classical guitarist, will perform repertory works in a solo concert performance. The first graduate of Cecil's music performance degree program is a resident of Cecil County who has played at the Port Deposit Presbyterian Church as part of the town's annual Candlelight Tour. He has also performed at many other regional venues, including Fair Hill Galleries, The Raimondi Gallery and the Milburn Stone Theatre. A native of Richmond, Va., Sise began playing the guitar when he moved to Elkton at the age of 11. While attending Cecil College, he was awarded the 2005-06 Cecil County Arts Council Fellowship in the performing arts.

Sise's concert on July 10 will be preceded by an opening reception for "Wishful Thinking" from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in The Gallery in the Milburn Stone Theatre. The exhibit of collage, pastel and acrylics by Malissa Reese will be on display through Aug. 12. Come to the reception in the gallery; stay for the performance in the theater.

The award-winning, Baltimore-based, Bay Street Brassworks is comprised of top area professionals, including Glen Johnson and Stuart Smith on trumpet, Robert Cherry on French horn, David Dochterman on trombone, and Scott Cameron on tuba. Bay Street Brassworks has performed at numerous universities and colleges and for many music departments throughout the United States and abroad. The quintet has played with the Empire Brass Quintet, Baltimore Symphony, New York Philharmonic, American Brass Quintet, and the San Antonio Symphony. The YAMAHA Performing Artists were grand prize recipients at the 2003 New York Brass Conference in the brass quintet competition.

Named after trumpeter Red Rodney, who toured with Charlie Parker, The Albino Red Band is a Philadelphia-based blues and classic rock band which plays throughout the region. Bringing a diversity of talent and musical styles together, such as Texas and Delta blues, rock, and jazz fusion, the band brings a rich sense of history to its performances and song selection. Winner of the 2005 Battle of the Blues, Albino Red was the featured Band of the Month in the "At the Shore" supplement produced by "The Press of Atlantic City."

Junkyard Saints is a Washington, D.C./Baltimore-based seven-piece band with a full horn section. The band performs its own brand of New Orleans-style party music by blending funk, swing, Latin, and rhythm and blues with a splash of zydeco to round out the mix. With regular college and independent radio airplay across the country, the Junkyard Saints have played at some of the most notable venues and festivals in the United States, including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Pier Six, Fort Lauderdale Cajun Crawfish Festival, and Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk Blues Festival.