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Contact, Event Organizer, erica@tccentralumc.org with any questions.

Join us for the 47th Anniversary of the Central United Methodist Church Messiah Sing
– Sunday, December 7, at 4:00pm! This annual event has become an Advent
tradition in the Traverse City area – for many, signaling the beginning of the
Christmas Season.

This year’s Messiah Sing will feature soloists: Angela Bonello (soprano), Alta Boover Dantzler (alto), John Bragle (tenor), and Kyle Ferrill (bass). Also performing will be the NMC Grand Traverse Chorale, accompanied by organ and chamber orchestra, under the baton of conductor Jeffrey Cobb.

Rehearsal for those who want to sing starts promptly at 2:45 (vocal scores
may be checked out; those who wish to borrow one should arrive early to pick up
their score); concert starts at 4:00. Admission is by donation and all proceeds from the free-will offering support Music Ministries at Central. Join us in downtown TC at 222 N Cass St. Call us if you have any questions at 231-946-5191. For further information and complete Christmas calendar of events for
Central UMC, visit www.tccentralumc.org/christmas

Bios of featured soloists, our conductor, and our special guest, NMC Grand Traverse Chorale:

Angela Bonello (soprano): Michigan-based soprano Angela Bonello is passionate about using her voice to bring joy to audiences through opera, oratorio, art song, choral music, and sacred music. She has performed as a soloist with the Choral Artists of Michigan and Holy Name Parish Schola on works including Fauré Requiem, Duruflé Requiem, and Mendelssohn Hear My Prayer/O For the Wings of a Dove. In December 2024, she made her soloist debut with the Macomb Symphony Orchestra singing Bach’s Magnificat. Operatic roles include Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Papagena (The Magic Flute), Lucy (The House on Mango Street), Sister Constance (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Patience (Patience), and Despina (Così fan tutte). She has participated in performance outreach with the Motor City Lyric Opera and sings frequently at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. Angela is pursuing her MM in Voice Performance at the University of Michigan and studies with Caitlin Lynch.

Alta Boover Dantzler (alto): mezzo-soprano, is a passionate educator and an active performer of opera, operetta and concert works.  She has appeared at Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the New York City Chamber Orchestra in Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, and at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center as the Narrator in Peter and the Wolf as well as Mrs. Barnaby in the premiere of a new version of Victor Herbert’s Babes in Toyland. Internationally, she has been an invited presenter on vocal health for educators in Tokyo, Japan, performed American Operetta in Vienna, she toured Brazil as the alto soloist in a resurrection of the work of Jose Mauricio Nuñes Garcia, and sang with the Choeur Maurice de Sully of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

She has enjoyed more than 400 performances in over 50 separate productions of European and American operetta.  On the operatic stage, favorite roles include Julia Child in Bon Appétit, Marcellina in Il Nozze di Figaro, Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, The Old Lady in Candide, and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.  She performs regularly as a concert and oratorio soloist with symphony orchestras across the country. Her latest album Of Time and Love was featured in American Record Guides “Best of 2023” issue, and is available wherever you stream or purchase music. Dr. Boover is the Assistant Director of the School of Music Theatre and Dance and an Associate Professor of Voice at Oakland University where she has taught since 2010. She holds degrees from Skidmore College, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Texas at Austin. For more information, please visit www.altadantzler.com

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Dr. John Bragle (tenor) is the Senior Director of Education at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, where he leads a team of teaching artists providing private lessons to more than 1,000 students and music education in schools and community centers serving more than 10,000 students who would otherwise have no access to music education.  A passionate music educator and arts advocate with more than 20 years of teaching experience in public and private school music programs, higher education, and community-based music settings, Bragle served from 2005-2022 as the Director of Choirs and Instructor of Voice at the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp. Choirs under his direction have performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Traverse Symphony Orchestra, and Interlochen’s World Youth Symphony Orchestra in venues such as Lincoln Center, DAR Constitution Hall, Milwaukee’s Bradley Symphony Center, and Detroit’s Orchestra Hall. An active soloist in concert and recital, he has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Traverse Symphony Orchestra, and the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, and has a passion for the treatment of text in art song recitals. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Eduation and master’s degree in Choral Conducting. In 2021, he earned his doctoral degree in Music Education from Boston University. His research and writing has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Music in Early Childhood, and Teaching Music.

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Kyle Ferrill (bass) now follows his passion for higher education as an admissions counselor at Northwestern Michigan College. For seventeen years before that, Ferrill taught voice at the University of Memphis, the University of Idaho, Indiana University, Boston University, Butler University, DePauw University, Interlochen Arts Camp, and Mercer University. Ferrill studied at Florida State University and Butler University.  He has appeared with some of the nation’s finest orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and New York’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Conductors include Stefan Asbury, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Keith Lockhart, Gil Rose, Robert Spano, Kirk Trevor, and John Williams.

Jeffrey Cobb (conductor) is the Director of Music Programs and Choirs at Northwestern Michigan College, Managing Director of the NMC Children’s Choirs, and Director of Music at Traverse City Central United Methodist Church. He holds a M.M. in Choral Conducting from Oakland University and a B.A. in Music Education from Western Michigan University. Jeffrey has held positions at Traverse City Central High School, Judson ISD in San Antonio, Texas; Parchment Schools in Parchment, Michigan; and the Leysin American School in Leysin, Switzerland. Choirs under his direction have toured throughout Michigan, Texas, Chicago, New York, Salzburg and Vienna and have been invited to perform at State and National Conferences including the Michigan Music Conference, the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, the ACDA Michigan Conference, and the ACDA National Convention. Jeffrey is a frequent clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor, working with school groups, Honor Choirs, and All-State Choirs.

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In addition to his work as a conductor, Jeffrey is also a regularly commissioned composer. His pieces have won several awards including honors from the Leonardo Da Vinci Choral Composition Content (Florence), the Phoenix Boys Choir New Works Rising Composition Contest, the Ithaca Choir Composition Contest, the New York Virtuoso Singers Choral Composition Contest, the Measure for Measure Choral Competition Contest, the Vanguard Premieres Choral Composition Contest, the Summit Chorale’s Composition Contest, the Outside the Bachs International Choral Music Competition, the C7Prize, and the Composition Competition of the Chiayi City (Taiwan) International Band Festival. Jeffrey’s arrangements and original compositions are regularly performed by college ensembles, community groups and high school ensembles throughout North and South America, Europe, and Oceania. His choral works are published through his own publishing company Mysterium Music, as well as G. Schirmer, Hinshaw Music, Santa Barbara Music, Walton Music, Colla Voce, and Roger Dean Publishing. Jeffrey is also a sought-after composer and arranger in other genres. His music can be heard on several television series, radio spots, and in television advertisements.

NMC Grand Traverse Chorale: This large, mixed (SATB) choral ensemble is open to all community members and college students with past choral experience. The Grand Traverse Chorale provides its members with an educational experience and personal enrichment made possible through singing quality choral literature selected from antiquity through the 21st century, with an emphasis on large masterworks. Performance excellence is principal to the purpose of the ensemble. The Grand Traverse Chorale performs throughout the semester and frequently performs with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. May also be taken for academic credit. To arrange an audition, email jecobb@nmc.edu. Learn more here.

You are invited to join us on Tuesday, December 9: Christmas Tea starting at 12pm noon.

Central’s United Women in Faith present their annual festive Christmas Tea at 12 PM NOON with a performance by The Central High School Choral-Aires at 1 PM.

If you need more details or would like to get involved with this event, please contact Diane Shugart at dshug311@gmail.com.

Music Sunday is December 14.  Come hear this Advent celebration of Lessons and Carols at the 9:00 and 11:00 services with the Chancel Choir, the WELL Worship Band and vocalists, brass players, organ and piano.

All are welcome to join us for a calm evening of Taizé worship and music by candlelight led by Fred Szczepanski on Wednesday. December 17 at 6 pm in the Sanctuary at Central. Good for all people, especially those who find the holidays hard.

Join us for our monthly Parent’s Night Out event, but a lot more crazy! Children will eat dinner, and then shift through stations in 15 minutes and move on to the next thing! It is so much fun!

Registration available starting Friday, December 5.

What is different about this month is that kids get to go shopping for their people in their home.

It is an amazing outreach to families, and we invite you to participate and have some fun with us!

We will need gently used gift wrapping supplies – and gifts for moms, dads, siblings, and generic gifts for anyone, as well as volunteers to make this a successful event. It is on December 20th from 5:15-8:15pm. Registration is open and limited to 75 kids.

Perhaps you get involved with the extraordinary effort of Christmas for Children (we need donations AND volunteers). Please contact Ms. Erica at erica@tccentralumc.org or the church office to get involved.