On Wednesday evening, March 31, 2010, the Grand Rapids Symphony will provide a full concert performance!  This concert will bring the Grand Rapids Symphony to the Dogwood Center for the first time.  As of March 30, 2010, this performance is sold out.

The program will bring the best of classical music to our area while celebrating life in Newaygo County.  The program will feature “A Day in the Life of Newaygo County” where the music selected will be accompanied by projected images of artwork and photographs conceived and produced by the young people of Newaygo County.

Associate conductor John Varineau will lead the orchestra in such pieces as Carnaval Overture - Dvorak, Appalachian Spring - Copland, Egmont Overture - Beethoven, Adagio for Strings - Barber, and La Grand Vitesse by contemporary composer James L. Stephenson.

The Grand Rapids Symphony presents more than 400 concerts each year and is pleased to include this performance for the people of Newaygo County in their concert schedule.  If you haven’t attended one of their concerts before here are some tips from the Symphony:  “Open yourself to the music.  Let it trigger your emotions - maybe even your memories.  Feel the rhythms; follow the tunes.  Watch the musicians and the conductor, and see how they interact with each other.  Notice how the music ebbs and flows - surging and powerful at some times, delicate and ephemeral at others, and everything in between.”

Program sponsors for the performance are Fremont Area Community Foundation and Nestle Nutrition/Gerber Products.

The Dogwood Center is encouraging everyone attending the Grand Rapids Symphony concert to “Help the Arts Help the Community” by bringing in canned goods and non-perishable food to the Dogwood lobby area when they arrive.  The food collected will be brought to local food pantries that help Newaygo County families in need of food assistance.

Main stage.   7:30 p.m.  This performance is sold out.

The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

Baffling Bill is back at the Dogwood this time to present “Baffling Bill’s Magic of Christmas Show”!  With over 15 years of experience as an educator/entertainer, Baffling Bill knows how to make learning fun through dazzling magic, audience participation, and non-stop laughter!  

Let the fun begin!  Card tricks, illusions, rabbits, and puzzling magic!  Things will disappear and re-appear later in the show when you least expect it!  Be ready to giggle, laugh and then wonder…”How did he do that”???  A special appearance (or will it be a disappearance?) by Santa!  Bring the family for a fun night out at the Dogwood!

Tickets $15 for adults and $5 for children under 18.  7:30 p.m. Main Stage.

The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

John Berry is bringing his Christmas tour to the Dogwood!  His only Christmas concert in Michigan this year, country singer Berry will perform at the Dogwood Center on December 11 at 7:30 p.m.  This show is sold out.

His angelic voice will excite your soul and remind you what the season is really about:  family, friends, and faith.  This will be an unforgettable night with a country music legend!

Berry is most known for his stand-out hits Your Love Amazes Me, Kiss Me in the Car, and Standing on the Edge of Goodbye, but it was Berry’s  stunning performance of the title track of the 1995 CD O Holy Night that led to his most enduring legacy - the Country Christmas Tour.

The show is filled with traditional Christmas songs, childhood stories told only the way John can tell them, and his country hits.

The Georgia tenor has been recognized by the Grammy Association, the Academy of Country Music, and the Country Music Association as a nominee in the Best Male Vocalist category and is no stranger to the top single charts.

Fremont High School orchestra students will provide accompaniment to John on several songs during his performance.

Dogwood Center is encouraging everyone attending the John Berry concert to “Help the Arts Help the Community” by bringing in canned goods and non-perishable foods to the Dogwood Lobby area when they arrive.  The food collected will be brought to Love, Inc.’s Community Food Pantry which helps Newaygo County families in need of food assistance.

7:30 p.m. Main Stage.

Tickets: Adults - $35 in advance, $40 day of show.  Children (18 and under) - $30 in advance, $35 day of show.  This show is sold out.

Take the time to get in the holiday spirit and enjoy one…or all…of these family friendly holiday films!  Admission is free.  We hope you will “Help the Arts Help Our Community” and bring non-perishable donated food items.  All donated items will go to the NCCS Food Pantry which helps Newaygo County families needing food assistance.

Films are: “The Polar Express” at 2:00 p.m., “UP” at 4:00 p.m., and “Pieces of April” showing at 7:00 p.m.

“The Polar Express” is a magical holiday tale that tells of a young boy who still wants to believe in Santa even though his friends have “grown out of it”.  His faith is rewarded when a steam train pulls up to his house and escorts him to the North Pole to meet Santa.  The animated feature includes voices of  Tom Hanks, Michael Jeter, Chris Coppola, and Peter Scolari.  The 2004 film is rated G and runs 99 minutes. 

The animated film “UP” is a hilarious journey that takes you into a lost world with the least likely duo on earth, 78 year old Carl Fredricksen and 8 year old Russell.  Carl spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and now in his golden years launches his house into the sky via thousands of balloons.  Right after liftoff he discovers he has a stowaway in the form of an over optimistic Wilderness Explorer named Russell.  Voices in the film include Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, and John Ratzenberger.  The 2009 film is rated PG and runs 96 minutes.

In the 7:00 p.m. film “Pieces of April”, character April Burns (Katie Holmes) thinks that it is finally time to get her extremely dysfunctional family together for Thanksgiving dinner.  She invites them to her small dumpy apartment but while preparing the meal her oven breaks down.  That is the least of her problems as this motley crew attempts to organize themselves for the trip.  Everyone brings their own bad taste to the table in this hysterical family comedy.  The 2003 film is rated PG and runs 80 minutes.

Black Box.  2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Non-perishable food donations accepted at the door for the NCCS Food Pantry.

Contact the Dogwood Center Box Office at 231.924.8885 for more information.

The Fremont Area Community Foundation will be hosting the first ever “Match Day” on Thursday, September 17! 

On “Match Day”, donors just like you who bring their Dogwood Center contributions in person to the Fremont Area Community Foundation office will have them matched dollar for dollar!! 

What a way to double the power of your money!  Mark your calendars for September 17 and show your commitment to the value of arts in Newaygo County through your donation!  Go to www.tfacf.org for specific event guidelines.

An evening of music, dance and drum from around the world!  Performances include American Indian Dance and Drum, Flamenco Dancing, Indonesian Dancers, Middle Eastern Sword Dance, African Drum and Dancers, and Irish/Scottish Drum, Bagpipe and Fiddle.

Tickets $10. 7:30 p.m. Main Stage.

The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

Join us in the Black Box for an incredible performance by Kathy Kosins in a tribute to the “Ladies of Cool”.  

Kosins not only has a critically acclaimed voice and eclectic musical palette, she also is the recipient of a Michigan Council of the Arts Michigan Jazz Composers Award, is a six-time ASCAP award winning songwriter, and is a jazz educator.

Kosins will perform songs of the 40’s and 50’s by some of the greatest powerhouse singers of all time such as Julie London, Anita O’Day, June Christy, and Chris Connor, household names to jazz and pop fans alike in that era.  Definitely “Cool Jazz by the Ladies of Cool”!

A serious musician from Detroit, she began singing and arranging background vocals for producer Don Was in the early eighties, acquiring over 35 credits to her name.  As a lead vocalist she recorded for both Cararre (Sony) and Quality Records then toured with Was/Not Was.  By the early nineties, her musical taste in R&B evelved to straight ahead jazz.  Stints with the JC Herald and Nelson Riddle Orchestras followed and led to a 1996 release of “All in a Dreams Work”, an impressive debut featuring a collection of nine originals and a cover of Miles’ Four.  Her 2002 release of “Mood Swings” continues to bring her recognition and success at the national level as well as her most recent recording “Vintage”.

Kosins also excels as a painter.  Her abstract acrylics on canvas are influenced by the cubist paintings of the 1950’s.   Samples of her work will be on display in the Dogwood Lobby Gallery the evening of her show.

Tickets $10.  7:30 p.m. Black Box.

The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

“One of the most alluring voices in Jazz. ” - Chicago Tribune

Trop Rock in Michigan!  Join Living Soul and Don Middlebrook in the Black Box for an evening of tropical music that will feed your soul!  Known for their feel good, warm weather Caribbean soul sound with a kick, their music parallels to Jimmy Buffet’s style. 

Middlebrook, dubbed the “Grandfather of Trop Rock”, has two of his compositions on the Showtime Original Series “Opposite Sex” and in 1998 Middlebrook’s CD, “I Can’t Spell Caribbean”, was voted the ‘Best Boater CD of the Year’ by The Oakland County Press.

Their current CD “Beach Bar Serenade” definitely brings home a tropical feel.  Songs like “Open Blue Waters” and “Luckyville” inspire us all into that t-shirt and sandals kind of mood!

Over the years, Middlebrook and his band have recorded and toured with Greg “Fingers” Taylor, Jimmy Buffet’s harmonica player of 27 years.  The band has shared the stage over the years with The Doobie Brothers, Hall and Oates, The Beach Boys, Meatloaf, Starship and Reba McIntyre.

Tickets $10.  7:30 p.m. Black Box.

The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

Greensky Bluegrass brings its award winning, genre-bending music to the Dogwood Center!  Greensky Bluegrass is one of the most exciting bands in today’s music scene.  Like a breath of fresh air, this five piece band plays traditional bluegrass instruments and create original sounds and soundscapes that are unique and new.   

Based out of Kalamazoo, Greensky has developed great versatility in the performance arena, earning audiences nationwide.  The mixing of original compositions with traditional bluegrass numbers gives the band a broad spectrum in which to display their driving technical chops, vocal abilities, and lyrical insight.

Greensky Bluegrass band members are Dave Bruzza (guitar), Anders Beck (dobro), Mike Devol (upright bass), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).  Since winning the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest, Greensky has been touring constantly.  This September alone, they will be playing in Kentucky, California, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and of course, right here at the Dogwood Center!!

Main Stage.  Tickets $15. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 19 is also the day of Newaygo County’s first annual “Equinox” event, a day long event that will feature a range of outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, paddling, high ropes, and geochaching.  Participants choose from a variety of events taking place throughout the county all day long the day day concludes with the Greensky Bluegrass concert at the Dogwood!  To learn more about Equinox 2009 go to www.newaygocountytourism.com or call 231.652.9298.

The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

www.greenskybluegrass.com