Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — The curtain will come down for the last time on the annual Community-wide Hymn and Spiritual Sing-Along hosted by Kellogg Community College on February 2, says Dr. Gerald Case-Blanchard, Director of Vocal Music and Music Program Coordinator at KCC.
 
The Sing-Along is a signature event that traditionally ushers in the monthlong series of Black History Month events at Kellogg Community College. In past years it has been presented by the College’s Sacred Music Certificate Program.
 
Dr. Gerald Case-Blanchard“That certificate program has been deactivated in anticipation of the launch of a new Associate in Fine Arts in Music degree in the Fall 2025 semester,” Case-Blanchard says. “I’m really, really excited about this new initiative. Local students won’t have to go somewhere else for that degree in music.”
 
Currently, KCC offers an Associate of Arts degree in various disciplines. The new degree, which is expected to be formally announced in the coming weeks, is designed to be a transfer degree to a four-year institution.

Starting with the Fall 2025 semester, KCC is anticipated to offer two new Associate in Fine Arts degrees:  a 60-credit Associate in Fine Arts in Music degree and a 60-credit Associate in Fine Arts in Visual Arts degree, says Simon Thalmann, KCC spokesperson. 

As part of each program, he says students who complete each degree will also have completed the Michigan Transfer Agreement and the service-learning endorsement required for KCC graduates. 

“The degrees are designed for transfer into relevant Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Fine Arts programs or equivalents, as well as for portfolio development,” Thalmann says. “The programs consist of repackaging current course offerings; no new courses are anticipated to be needed at this time. The music degree will offer a comprehensive foundation of music study including essential performance, studio, and foundation courses.” 

The new associated degree programs follow the Fall 2024 deactivation of KCC’s Art Enrichment Certificate, Music Enrichment Certificate, and Sacred Music Certificate. 
The history of music-focused opportunities for students at KCC began one month after the college opened in 1956 with the formation of the first Music Club, according to information on the KCC website. This laid the foundation for the buildout of a music program that not only educates students, but also gives them opportunities to perform in front of local, national, and international audiences.
 
The Touring Choir, also known as the KCC Choral Union, is a distinguished component of the college’s Choral Music Program.The 2025 lineup of Music events includes: a Valentine’s Day performance by the KCC Jazz Ensemble; the KCC Concert Band in a performance titled “Women in Music”; and the KCC Choral Union in a performance highlighting the breadth and evolution of the choral tradition. This is in addition to the Spiritual Sing-Along.

The Choral Union is a combination of the KCC Singers; the Branch County Community Chorus, a community arm of the College; and the Cocentous Vocal Ensemble. The Choral Union comes together whenever there are performances of large masterworks or there are tours.
 
Case-Blanchard says his “charge is to make sure I pull together all the information and ensure people in the community see the work going on here. We do several dozen performances, concerts, and events every academic year.”
 
The majority of performances take place on the KCC campus at the
Davidson Visual and Performing Arts Center Auditorium and the Elizabeth H. Binda Center for the Performing Arts.
 
Although the College’s Music programs are not immune to the same challenges faced by other musical performance organizations to grow their audience bases, Case-Blanchard says KCC’s student population is an added advantage.
 
“Something we have is students and those students, if they’re in the music program, are required to go to a certain number of performances,” he says. “I like that there’s one concert where they’re going to come and bring a friend.”
 
A stalwart community fan base bolsters this student attendance.
 
The Kellogg Community College musicians tour Italy.“The community is an incredible asset for what we do,” Case-Blanchard says. “They come out and participate in community-focused events. When the community comes out that inspires us to try new things.”
 
As a living, breathing institution he says, “We’re looking towards the future while acknowledging and celebrating our past. We have students singing Bach and Handel, spirituals by Stacey V. Gibbs, and compositions by Z. Randall Stroope and others. This brings a new energy and that’s how you get new and diverse audiences.”

Students are singing a wide range of repertoire ranging from masterworks by Bach and Handel through contemporary works by Z. Randall Stroope and Stacey V. Gibbs which combined represent over 400 years of repertoire.
 
Retaining music patrons has created an expectation that’s been met by a consistent raising of the bar by KCC’s music faculty all of whom are professional musicians who perform.
 
“If the product’s not good, no one’s going to come back,” Case-Blanchard says.
 
Putting KCC on the world stage
 
On June 16, 32 student choristers with the KCC Chorale Union will journey to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to give several performances under the direction of Case-Blanchard. This is the third international tour and the 12th concert tour for choristers who range in age from 20-87.
 
Taking the show on the road was an initiative begun by Case-Blanchard in 2006, two years after he came to work for KCC.
 
The Touring Choir, also known as the KCC Choral Union, is a distinguished component of the college’s Choral Music Program.The idea was the result of a conversation with a student who said he’d never traveled outside of Michigan to perform.
 
“We were invited to sing at a church in Fremont, Indiana. I was bringing the Kellogg Singers and one of them said he was excited to sing in Fremont because he’d never performed out-of-state. It was at that moment that I said ‘I’m going to change that so they can get out and experience people right where they live,'” Case-Blanchard says.
 
These interactions are with residents of states like Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and countries including Canada, Ireland, and Italy. That first international tour in 2012 was to Ireland.
 
“I believe we were the first community college choral group in Michigan to go on an international concert tour,” Case-Blanchard says.
 
Anecdotally, he says the opportunity to travel and perform internationally is a big draw for KCC students participating in the Music program. It was an opportunity he didn’t have growing up in Philadelphia.
 
“I had never left the country until I was in college because I could never afford to travel. My high school choir went to Prague and Russia and I wasn’t able to go because we didn’t have the money,” Case-Blanchard says. “I wanted our concert tour program here to be for any student who did the work and wanted to go. I didn’t want finances to be a barrier.
 
The bulk of funds to cover the cost of these trips come through donors, sponsors, and community partners. Another source is the local performances.
 
At every concert, Case-Blanchard tells the audience that all ticket proceeds go directly toward supporting a student who wants to travel. While they also are expected to finance what they can, he says he has yet to have a student miss the opportunity because of finances.
 
“You don’t often get an opportunity when you know you don’t have to worry about money being the primary obstacle,” he says.
 
The Touring Choir, also known as the KCC Choral Union, is a distinguished component of the college’s Choral Music Program.The total cost of the June trip is $148,000 for the 32 students and traveling guests. So far about $50,000 has been raised. Between community members and concerts in communities like St. Joseph, Case-Blanchard expects to add to that current number. 
 
Concerts routinely happen in off-campus locations for the students’ benefit.
 
“It’s the same as if you only went to one restaurant. We all need that variety. If you only go to one place, you don’t grow,” Case-Blanchard says. “I want our students to have opportunities to share their love and passions for the arts with the broader community.”
 
In 2010 his students performed at a church in Illinois. At the end of the concert, a woman approached him and said her grandfather was in the very first Battle Creek Community College (the original name of KCC) Music Club. He later learned that the late George “Ed” Herring, who retired in 2010 as KCC President, had been a member of that church.
 
“Those are the experiences you never have if you never leave the area,” Case-Blanchard says. “These moments in our lives spark something to grow and develop and these are the moments our students remember. It brings you joy and that’s a part of it all.”
 
While he has students who go on to become professional musicians, the majority go into other professions and continue to sing in church choirs or at friends' weddings.
 
He views his current and former students as ambassadors for KCC and says they each have helped to cement the Music program’s reputation.
 
“Our students live in a community that has so many arts opportunities for them to take advantage of,” Case-Blanchard says. “You don’t have to go to Chicago or New York City to get a fine musical experience. This is an amazing win-win for everyone.”