A DePue family Christmas at the NPAC

Nothing says family like Christmas time. For those of us with family scattered across the miles, it is a time to get together and share and enjoy the traditions of family, love, and Christmas.

The last of five Christmas concerts at the Niswonger features a family of four boys who have quite a story.  The DePue Brothers come to the Niswonger on Thursday night, December 17, and invite all of us into their family room to enjoy a homespun Christmas.

I especially wanted to bring the DePue Brothers to Van Wert for a concert close to Christmas.  Knowing that they all grew up in Bowling Green, Ohio and that their father still resides there, I figured they might all be convening close to December 25. The four brothers, all professional violinists/fiddlers, live throughout the country. Although they concertize together quite often, they also perform separately with the likes of the Indianapolis and Philadelphia Symphonies, as well as the Nashville music scene.

Wallace Jr., Jason, Zachary, and Alex are all sons of Wallace DePue, a composer and professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University. Dr. DePue resides in Bowling Green and has been the driving force for this family of virtuosic musicians. While I was attending BGSU in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, these four brothers were just beginning their music training. Between BGSU string teachers and then University of Michigan instructors, all four boys began learning a craft that would eventually make them known throughout the United States for their fiddling and violin playing.

Their father was a strict disciplinarian when it came to practicing the violin. I always remember what he told his kids at a young age.  He said, “You can work like a dog now and play the rest of your lives, or you can play around now and work like a dog the rest of your lives.” Obviously, they heeded their father’s advice and are now playing in their adult lives and making many people happy through their music.  And when you see them on stage, you know they are having fun.

It is a rather rare occasion when all four brothers perform together. Often it is two or three along with a band of extremely talented colleagues who perform as the DePue Brothers Band.  This December 17 in Van Wert at the Niswonger, however, all four boys will be together and I can’t wait!  You will experience the love and fun that four brothers can have while performing together on stage.

I have seen their program and it will have a ton of Christmas music throughout. They also create Christmas music in so many different styles; everything from Bluegrass to Classical and Pop to Rock and even some between. You will certainly feel you have been invited to the DePue family room for an impromptu fiddling fest of fun!

Some tickets still remain for this Community Concert event on Thursday, December 17, but don’t delay.  Call now (419.238.1743) or go online (NPACVW.ORG) for tickets. Bring the entire family. And don’t forget gift cards to the Niswonger. We have another half season left with some terrific concerts yet to come.  A gift card might just be your ticket this Christmas!

FINÉ.