Tre Cooper's Christmas at Northwoods

Northwoods Community Church is located in Peoria, IL, USA, and hosts an annual Christmas Production that sees nearly 30,000 attendees across 11 sold-out shows. Christmas at Northwoods features a Broadway-style cast of musicians, dancers, and singers to bring to life a timeless message of joy and wonder.

MA student, Tre Cooper begins preparing for the event at the start of each year and invests nearly 150 hours into writing out charts and creating rehearsal tracks for vocalists, and over 60 more hours of leading vocal rehearsals before opening night.

Tre has often joked that his vocal rehearsals are “where choir nerds come to thrive”. Beginning in September, these weekly rehearsals play an essential role in helping the cast—composed of worship team volunteers—sound polished and authentic as they perform pop, southern gospel, jazz, country, gospel, and even classical styles throughout the show. While preparations are extensive, the joy and camaraderie built during rehearsals bring encouragement and unity as we approach opening night.

This year, Tre is grateful to Voice Study Centre for the tools to coach teams more clearly and efficiently. Though he is just rounding out Module 1, he’s already been able to drastically decrease the time spent on “guesswork” and free up rehearsal time to hone in on various fine details. 

To watch shows from previous years, search “Christmas at Northwoods” on YouTube - these will be sure to get you in the Christmas spirit. (We've attached last years video below).