Community Concerts take center stage!

Following last night’s exciting concert to end this season’s Community Concert Series, now is the perfect time to share the brand new 2015-16 series with you. Nearly 900 people were entertained by the high-energy, step-dancing Celtic music ensemble, The StepCrew. It was a great way to segue into next season’s announcement.

Over the 62 years of Community Concerts in Van Wert, there have been many changes. Community Concerts do not remain stagnant.  Since moving to the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, we have continued to honor the tradition of packaging professional performances at an affordable price. Next season will be the same value, but will offer some new twists for the ticket buyer.

Last year, we gave the option of selecting desired seats in a scalable house. In other words, if you prefer seats up close and personal, they may cost a little more, but yet we offered many seats at the most affordable rate too. We also offered special memberships that offered early buying options, along with meet-and-greets with the performers, and other special features.  Last night, those who were members were treated to a pre-concert dinner at Willow Bend Country Club, where we also gave the first announcement of next year’s performers.

For those who like to make an evening of their Niswonger concert experiences, we have teamed with Willow Bend to offer a dinner and a show.  Each of the five Community Concerts next season will be teamed with a themed dinner at Willow Bend.  It’s a fun and classy way to enjoy the entire concert experience and enjoy it with friends and fellow patrons. And with the increasing number of out-of-towners attending our concerts, it’s a great way to meet new friends and talk about what great offerings our community has to offer.

Just announced at last night’s concert with The StepCrew were the five outstanding performances one can purchase for as little as $60. The 2015-16 season features two big PBS performances that many have probably seen on WBGU (PBS 27) in Bowling Green or WFWA (PBS 39) in Fort Wayne. Child prodigy, pianist, singer, composer and entertainer Ethan Bortnick is returning to Van Wert. Now age 14, Ethan continues to wow audiences with an entertaining show of jazz, classical, pop and much more.  This spring, expect his second PBS special to be aired on local stations and throughout the country.

Christmas will go “Grassical” this year with the DePue Brothers Band. The four DePue brothers hail from Bowling Green, but now live all over the country. Music is the one thing that keeps this family together.  That’s quite understandable as their father, Dr. Wallace DePue, was music professor for many years at Bowling Green State University. “Grassical” is the term these brothers have coined for their violin and fiddling styles, which contain elements of both classical and bluegrass. It is a very entertaining night and they have some beautiful Christmas arrangements you will fall in love with.

Everyone’s favorite singing cowboys, Riders in the Sky, recently received permission to use clips of the old Roy Rogers movies and they have put together a show saluting the “King of the Cowboys.”  It is a brand new show and you will be among the first to see it as part of our Community Concert Series.

The fourth concert of the series will be something totally different, but very fun. The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra comes to us from Wellington, New Zealand. Fourteen ukuleles and a bass will create a fun-filled night of music, comedy and who knows what else.  This band is comprised of a bunch of young kids who make music an experience for the entire audience.

We finish the series with a group that has been mentioned to me by several people lately: The Texas Tenors. Once again, a huge Emmy Award-winning PBS special and performers on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” propelled these three tenors to Billboard’s top 10 list of classical artists in the world!  Their show displays a “Country roots Classical sound” that has them in great demand all over the world. Now you can see them on the Niswonger stage as part of the 2015-16 Community Concert Series.

Now that you are appropriately teased and excited about this upcoming season, watch for more information about how and when you can be a part of this in news releases throughout the area and with our local media friends.

FINÉ.