Six Venues, Six Experiences

As members of the Saginaw Choral Society prepare to embark upon their 91^st year of vocal pyrotechnics, in addition to tuning up their voices the focus for the upcoming year is upon expanding their presence throughout the community by showcasing six incredible musical experiences at six different venues in anticipation of one incredible 2026-27 Performance Season.

“Our theme for this season is ‘Connections’,” explains Executive Director Tamara Grefe. “Singing is something social. Instrumentalists often practice alone in a room, but singers like to sing with other people, and when you sing with other people you make connections. For the Choral Society those connections are internal with members of our choir and external with the outside world to present a variety of experiences where people can not only connect with us but with each other.”

“Over the past few years, we haven’t done as many concerts in the large hall at The Temple Theatre, but have expanded into other venues throughout the community,” she continues. “We’re developing those connections and relationships with our patrons, and our singers like to be out within the community as well. We still have concerts at the Temple because that’s our home but are weaving other connections within the community moving forward.”

Currently the Choral Society is comprised of approximately 60 members and is always on the lookout for new fresh voices to join the chorus. “We have a core group that have been around for many years along with an influx of younger singers who come into the fold,” reflects Tammy, “so in a way it’s like a moving target. Some people sing a few of the concerts but not all of them, so it also has much to do with commitment levels. People are busy and younger people have families and sing in other groups, but we’ve always been able to maintain a core group of about 20 to 25 singers that have been very loyal.”

Regarding the line-up of performances for the 2026-27 Season, the excitement kicks off with a Boutique Event called Strings Attached, which will take place within the superb acoustics of the Grand Hall at Saginaw’s Castle Museum on Friday, Sept. 11^th at 6:30 PM with a complimentary hospitality and cash bar at 5:45 PM.  This program will include Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending, and Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings for voices and string quartet.

“We’ve done several concerts of the Castle Museum with great success because the venue has wonderful acoustics,” enthuses Tammy. “The sound in that Grand Hall is simply glorious, so after a couple years of pretty much a cappella singing we thought it would be fun to do something with a string quartet.  The Vaughn Williams piece has an arrangement by Paul Drayton for a violin solo with the choir, and we have a first violinist from Uzbekistan who emigrated here named Suker Vanik who is a beautiful violinist and very accomplished and we feel very lucky to have her.”

Next on the agenda for November is the return of Grefe Gaus Grefe for a pair of November 6 & 7 performances at Saginaw’s Court St. Theater. After a decade-long hiatus, last year’s November concert sold out for both performances, which warranted a return engagement. Joining Tim & Andy Grefe along with Stephan Gaus will be an incredible line-up of musicians including Dennis Gottlieb, Joe Balbaugh, Steve Nyquist, Tammy Grefe, Catherine McMichael, and Choral Society Musical Director Jeremiah Kraniak.

“We had a gas performing last year and received wonderful feedback from the audience so thought we would do one more year at the Court Theater,” relates Tammy. “We’re calling this one Listen to the Music and this year we’ll be performing pretty much all new music. In addition to The Doobie Brothers, we’ll be performing songs from America, The Allman Brothers, a couple from Paul Simon, and we have a beautiful Dan Fogelberg song in addition to a cameo guest artist coming to do a couple of Pointer Sisters hits.”

The Choral Society will be returning to The Temple Theatre on Saturday, December 5^th for a Homegrown Christmas with Mid-Michigan’s phenomenal women’s trio The Classic Women of Country featuring Any Petty, Lora Dale, and Laurie Middlebrook Spear.  All three are sought-after singer-songwriters with a powerhouse vocal blend rivaling the likes of the Dixie Chicks and the Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris trio.

“This will be a very integrated show in the sense we’ll have our Youth Choir also performing on-stage, along with some arranged pieces by Amy and possibly Catherine McMichael. This will be a truly fabulous and wonderfully upbeat holiday show and considering the recent passing of Dolly Parton I’m sure they will be performing some of her wonderful works,” reflects Tammy.

The Choral Society will kick off the New Year in 2027 on Friday & Saturday, Feb. 12 & 13^th at Bay City’s State Theater with Cabaret 2027: Disney Heroes & Villains!  This musical adventure will feature the unforgettable songs and larger-than-life Disney characters that have captivated audiences for generations. “This will be Family Show with $25.00 general admission and will be written and directed by Ric Roberts,” explains Tammy. “I don’t know what numbers will be included in the show yet but am sure there will be songs sung by heroes and other songs sung by villains!”

The month of March will witness the Choral Society returning to St. John’s Episcopal Church for a moving special concert titled Annelies, which was the given name to the young woman we know as Anne Frank. Her diary, written to ‘Dear Kitty’, was compiled and released in 1947 as The Diary of a Young Girl or The Diary of Anne Frank by her father, Otto – the sole survivor of her family.

“This performance will take place on March 17 & 19^th and tickets are only $20.00,” notes Tammy. “On the 80^th anniversary year of its release we wanted to present this work by British composer James Whitburn, with the libretto compiled from the diary by Melanie Challenger. Each year we like to work one performance into the season that carries some sort of social context. This is not a beautiful story and not a happy story, but it has connection to our commitment to something about social issues.”

And last but certainly not least, the Choral Society closers out their 2026-27 season on Friday, April 30^th with The Great American Songbook – a season-ending night of friendship, hospitality, gratitude, and music from that enduring body of 20^th Century American popular songs, jazz standards, and Broadway hits.  This event will take place inside The Red Room at The Dow Event Center with a 5 PM cocktail reception, an Awards and Sponsor Recognition segment, and a special performance at 7:30 PM.  Underwritten by the Family of William S. Koepke II, advance tickets for this special evening are only $50.00.

“This is a time to celebrate our patrons and donors and go back to the old days where we used to announce the upcoming season at the last concert of the year,” explains Tammy. “We’ll be doing memorable songs from Rogers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and you can guess the list of composers, and the evening will end with our full choir performing on the stage.”

For more information, ticket pricing, and to secure tickets please visit this link.