Archives for May 2011

The Voices of Freedom is West Michigan’s premier 8-part, acapella vocal ensemble, specializing in singing patriotic and Americana music.  The group is comprised of men and women from the greater Grand Rapids area.
This year, 2011, The Voice of Freedom celebrates fifteen years of singing together!  They perform music arranged by Derric Johnson who arranged and directed music for Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida for many years.  The group’s credo… “to sing songs about our great land, America the Beautiful”!
The group has performed at the Fourth of July celebration at Ah-Nab-Awen Park in Grand Rapids, in addition to the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven and the Festival of the Arts in GR.  They have also sung numerous times at the Frederick Meijer Gardens and the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum for the tree-lighting ceremony and for naturalization ceremonies for new citizens.  Concerts in the Park in Wyoming, Ada, Parchment, Montague and Canadian Lakes are other venues where The Voice of Freedom have performed.
Mark Pope is the director of The Voice of Freedom.  He graduated from Biola University in Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and performed at Walt Disney World for several years.
Tickets:  $12.50 for adults, $5 for children 18 and under.  Main Stage.  7:30 p.m.
Tickets available online at the Dogwood Box Office, or at NCCA-Artsplace in downtown Fremont.
Click here to buy tickets now!
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.

The Community Chamber Orchestra Rehersal has been cancelled.  If you are interested in a fall Community Chamber Orchestra, please call Becky Jansma at 231.924.0657.
Grab your instrument and come join us for an afternoon making music, just for the fun of it!  Advanced/intermediate adults and advanced students, strings, winds, percussion.  Enjoy an afternoon of playing music and socializing with other musicians.
RSVP and more information by calling Becky Jansma at 231.924.0657 or Sondra Cross at 231.329.3056.

Newaygo County People for Peace present Tom Cordle’s film, “The Seventh Day” at the Dogwood Center on Sunday, August 7 at 7:30 p.m. 
“The Seventh Day”, written and directed by Cordle, examines the history of war.   The Seventh Day is not for the faint of heart or the narrow of mind. It is an evocative blend of music and pictures that exposes the long, sad history of war – and man’s inhumanity to man. It is a sometimes brutal look at the worst evil humans inflict upon each other. A discussion period with Tom will follow the movie.
Tickets:  $5 at the door.  7:30 p.m.  Main Stage.   Newaygo County People for Peace encourage everyone to bring in a non-perishable food donation that will be distributed to local food pantries.
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.

A Black Box favorite, singer-songwriter Tom Cordle returns to the Dogwood on Saturday, August 6!  Once again, he will be accompanied by a trio of his talented musician friends.
Tom is a songwriter and entertainer and has appeared in concert with Willie Nelson and Roy Book Binder.  He has written hundreds of songs and recorded more than a dozen CD’s of original music.  His CD Kidstuff was adapted for a musical A Day in the Life of Rylee.  His songs will also be featured in Don Coyote, a musical adaptation of Don Quixote. 
Tom calls his unique brand of entertainment “history in song”; and this time around, he taps his Native American roots for “Soulofhawk – Songs of Native Sons”, a tribute to the courage and indomitable spirit of the First Americans.
From Christopher Columbus to Little Big Horn, native people fought a long, bitter battle for their land.  To them, the earth was sacred.  But their conquerors thought otherwise; to them the land was just another enemy to be conquered.  Sadly, that attitude remains, and the songs of Soulofhawk remind us we have much yet to learn from those First Americans.
 In addition to being a songwriter and an entertainer, Tom is the author of Scattered Thoughts and The Disappearing Cemetery, a book a reviewer described as “a fascinating mix of prose, poetry, history, and commentary.”
Tom is also involved with films, including The Seventh Day which he wrote and directed.  It will be shown at the Dogwood on Sunday, August 7, and a discussion period will follow the movie.  Tom also wrote the script for the documentary Artists in the Forest, and worked on the feature films My Girl, Matinee and The Work and the Glory.
7:30 p.m. Black Box.  Tickets: $12.50. Tickets on sale now!  Tickets available online, at the Dogwood Box Office, or at NCCA-Artsplace in downtown Fremont. 
Click here to buy your tickets now!
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.

Los Bandit’s music reflect the richness of Tex-Mex music by combining Norteno, Tejano, gospel, country, rock, and rhythm and blues.  They have an alternative world-beat sound that appeals to a very diverse audience. 
Los Bandits de Michigan are:  Rene Meave on guitar/vocals, Guillermo Martinez on accordion/vocals, Esteban Ortiz on drums/vocals and Ernesto Ortiz on bass guitar/vocals.  The group has previously performed at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Wheatland Festival, Chicago Summer Fest and the Milwaukee Mexican Fest.
Performing since 1991, they group’s members each have over thirty years of musical experience.  In 1999, the state of Michigan honored the founders of the Los Bandits, Rene Meave and Guillermo Martinez with a special tribute for their contribution to Tex-Mex music.
Tickets:  $12.50.  7:30 p.m.  Black Box. 
Click here to buy your tickets online now!  Tickets are available online, at the Dogwood Box Office, or at NCCA-Artsplace in downtown Fremont.
 Box Office hours are  Tuesday – Friday 10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and two hours prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.
NCCA-Artsplace hours are Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Thursdays 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., and Saturdays 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
For information, phone 231.924.4022.

This performance will be a magnificent evening of three works by Satellite Ballet:  two ballets and one staged vocal work.  It will be an exciting evening and we hope you join us! Tickets on sale now!
Satellite Ballet, under the direction of choreographer Troy Schumacher and producer Kevin Draper, designs collaborations between digital artists, dancers, musicians, photographers and writers.  The Dogwood Center premiered their debut production “Empire” in 2010.
The three parts to the evening will include:
PROGRESS – a thirty minute ballet with 7 dancers from the New York City Ballet, multimedia and live music performed on piano, viola, and violin.  It is a story in three acts of two people who lose and then find their love for each other.  It is also a contemplation of empire and decadence. 
COSMONAUT – a story in three acts of one man’s attempt to jump from space.  It is a contemplation of heroism and domesticity in cold war America.  Cosmonaut is a thirty minute vocal work with multimedia, performed by four experimental opera singers from Portland and four musicians on piano, viola, violin and guitar.
EPISTASIS – a mythical story of two satellites whose growing understanding of each other leads to their birth as humans.  This is a thirty minute ballet performed by dancers from the New York City Ballet, includes multimedia and musicians on piano, viola and violin.
New York City Ballet dancers involved in the production include:  Marika Anderson, Daniel Applebaum, Sam Greenberg, Lauren King, Ashley Laracey, Justin Peck, and Teresa Reichlen.  Musical composers are Nick Jaina and Nathan Langston.
This program is supported through funding from Nestle Nutrition/Gerber Products, MCACA, and the Fremont Area Community Foundation.
7:30 p.m.  Main Stage.  Tickets on sale now!
Tickets: $15.00 adults, $5.00 children 18 and under.  Main Stage. 7:30 p.m.  Click here to purchase ticket online. Tickets also available at the Dogwood Box Office or at NCCA-Artsplace in downtown Fremont.
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.

Over sixty years since the public first embraced the successful Miller Sound, both the legend and the music live on.  The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra is the most sought after big band in the world today for both concert and dance engagements.  Still considered the greatest band of all time, its unique sound is loved by almost anybody that cares for dance music.
The legendary Glenn Miller was one of the most successful of all the dance bandleaders back in the Swing era of the 1930’s and 40’s.  But, in 1944 while leading the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band, Miller died while traveling to entertain the troops in Europe.  The Miller estate formed the present Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956 following strong popular demand.  The band has been touring consistently since, playing an average of 300 live dates a year around the globe to millions of fans.
The 19-member band continues to play many of the original Miller arrangements that keep exciting fans who have not heard them played for awhile.  Additionally, they are also playing more modern selections in the big-band style, carefully selecting only those newer tunes that lead themselves naturally to the Miller style and sound. 
Come out and hear the music you love from the best band around!  Moonlight Serenade, I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, A String of Pearls ….. all the great tunes of the Swing era!
Tickets: $17.50 adults, $5.00 children 18 and under.  Main Stage. 7:30 p.m. 
 Tickets on sale now!  Tickets are available online, at the Dogwood Box Office, or at NCCA-Artsplace in downtown Fremont.
Click here to buy your tickets now!
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.

Kick off Fremont’s National Baby Food Festival and their theme “Totally 80’s” and come out and see one of the 1980’s favorite films…… “E.T.”! 
“E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial” was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore.  In the film, a being from outer space is accidentally stranded on Earth.  In his search for refuge, E.T. wanders into a backyard where he is discovered by 10-year old Elliott.  Elliot assumes responsibility for E.T.’s safety while searching, in a race against time, for a way to reunite E.T.  with his own kind in this heartwarming story of friendship and discovery.
This 1982 film is rated PG and runs 115 minutes.  Black Box.  7:00 p.m. 
Free admission.  Donations accepted at the door to help support the programs of the Dogwood Center.

Dogwood Summer Youth Theater presents “Candide” on July 15 and 16 on the Main Stage!
Directed by Chelsea Webb, Voltaire’s “Candide”, is adapted in 2 hilarious hours by a quirky amateur theater group.  Candide, the unlucky innocent, is lead through a series of outlandish, side-splitting misadventures that span nine countries, in order to be re-united with his childhood love.  Along his journey he encounters countless escapades.
Dogwood Summer Youth Theater is funded in part through a grant from the Fremont Area Community Foundation “Summer Youth Initiative”.
Free admission.  Donations accepted at the door to help support the programs of the Dogwood Center.  7:30 p.m.  Main Stage.

Dogwood Summer Youth Theater will be holding auditions for youth 7th grade through college on May 17 and May 18 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the Dogwood Center.  This year’s production will be Candide and during the auditions, director Chelsea Webb will be looking for 12 males and 16 females, as well as 20 extras.
The performance dates of Candide will be Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16.  The story of Voltaire’s Candide, as adapted into 2 hours, is of Candide, the unlucky innocent, as lead through a series of outlandish, side-splitting misadventures that span nine countries, in order to be reunited with his childhood love.
Come out to audition and join a great group in the Dogwood Summer Youth Theater! 
Auditions:  Tuesday, May 17 and Wednesday, May 18.
Location:  Dogwood Center, 4734 S. Campus Court, Fremont (just east of the Career Tech Center).
Ages:  7th Grade – College.
For more information please call the Dogwood Center at 231.924.8885 Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.