Soprano Alice McAllister Tillman

ALPENA — Thunder Bay Arts Council is honored to announce the upcoming concert, Broadway to the Met, featuring Soprano Alice McAllister Tillman. The concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 25 at the Beck Auditorium, Alpena High School, 3303 S. 3rd Ave. The concert is open to the public and free of charge, made possible with financial support from Besser Foundation and TBAC members and patrons.

Tillman is a versatile artist whose experiences have taken her to concert halls and recital stages throughout North America. Her voice has been described as “exquisite,” “mesmerizing,” “magnificent,” “brilliant,” and “beautiful.”

Tillman’s “soaring voice sent exquisite chills through the air during Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music Concert at Orchestra Hall,” according to Mark Stryker of the Detroit Free Press.

She received praise for her performance at Aretha Franklin’s funeral service in August 2018.

Tillman “was accompanied by a harpist as she performed a stirring Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria.’ The overwhelming opinion is that it will stand out as one of the most impressive parts of the service,” according to Kev Geoghegan and Paul Glynn of BBC Music News Live.

Tillman is known for her ability to perform a diverse range of literature spanning many genres. She has been presented in solo recitals that include art songs, operatic arias, spirituals, musical theater, and jazz. She is frequently engaged in oratorio and symphonic presentations.

Tillman is a long-standing member of the award-winning Brazeal Dennard Chorale, and accepted the role of artistic director in September of 2015. In her debut season as artistic director, Tillman had the honor of conducting The Brazeal Dennard Chorale and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Roland Carter’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

She holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance, a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a State of Michigan Teacher Certification from The University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance. Tillman has an incredible love of teaching and has been a voice instructor at every level including kindergarten through post-graduate studies.

Tillman is the creator and featured solo artist of “Once Upon a December Eve,” a concert presented each December that has become a holiday tradition in the Detroit Metropolitan Area.

Tillman is a featured recording artist on “The Second Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers,” “The New Negro Spiritual,” “Remembering II Significant Spirituals,” “Reflections,” and “Once Upon a December Eve.”