Internationally known American pianist Dan Franklin Smith will provide a program of classical solo piano works titled “Music from the Old World and the New”.  His work as a solo artist has been described as “breathtakingly beautiful…”. 

In the U.S., Smith has appeared as soloist, chamber musician and vocal accompanist at such venues as the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Cleveland Museum’s Distinguished Artist Series, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. 

 He has also toured in Bermuda, Taiwan, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and has been featured on several radio broadcasts in the U.S.  This summer he received rave reviews in a tour of Germany playing the works of German/Italian composer Busoni.

Smith is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he studied with Benning Dexter, and later in New York with the well-known concert pianist, Constance Keene.  His achievements also include a premiere recording of Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg’s piano concerto in 1999, a recording of solo piano pieces for Sveriges Radio in 2000, Swedish TV, other recital and orchestral dates in Sweden, England, Germany and France.

Tickets $15.  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 for a great Gospel Christmas Show!  The Dixie Melody Boys are an American Southern Gospel quartet from Kinston, North Carolina.  The group includes manager and bass singer Ed O’Neal, lead vocalist Donald Morris, tenor Jonathan Price, and baritone Steven Cooper. 

O’Neal has been with the group since 1961 and has received the Marvin Norcross Award and was inducted into the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame in 2004. 

The group has had more than twenty hits in the Southern Gospel field, including “Antioch Church Choir”, “I’ll Be Living That Way”, “Don’t Point a Finger”, and “When the Son of my Life Goes Down”.  The group has released a large number of albums and numerous videos.

Opening for the Dixie Melody Boys will be The Sweetwater Gospel Singers.  The group has been together for three years and includes Dave Parker - lead, Howard Bryant - tenor, and Geoff Hepworth - bass.  The group has performed for area fundraisers, at the Great Lakes Gospel Sing and the Hallelujah Square Gospel Barn.  They have recorded two cd’s of their beautiful gospel music.

Tickets $15. 3:00 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.

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.